The Family Business
by Primavera Rathbone
Summary: Cerridwen is a polyamorous contract hunter, trained by Ging alongside her dear friend Kite. Years later she hears that Ging's son Gon is finally going to take the Hunter Exam. Asked by Mito to look out for Gon, and asked by the Hunter's Association to keep Hisoka under control, she finds herself thrust into the Exam once more, risking life and limb with both new friends and old.
1. Salt and Tea

It was a beautiful evening on the small speck of land that was Whale Island. The sunset reflected warmly off the cobalt waves of the ocean, somehow making the salty air smell sweeter; just as she remembered it. Breathing it in deeply, she continued up the dirt path to the house she recalled so clearly.

It had been years since Cerridwen stepped foot on the shores of Whale Island. She would go there from time to time in order to escape the hectic life of a contract hunter, especially after she found out that it was the home of her friend Ging Freecss. He was always away, but his family was always more than hospitable to her, treating her as if she was family as well. However, the last time she was there, she didn't part ways with them on the best of terms.

As she reached the door of the small, quaint house, she exhaled anxiously before knocking. A woman a few inches shorter than her with short tawny hair answered the door. When she looked up to see Cerridwen's emerald eyes smiling back at her, she gasped in surprise.

"Hello, Mito," Cerridwen greeted amicably. "It's been a while."

"It certainly has!" Mito replied hurriedly, obviously flustered by shock. "Well...um...come in then, supper should still be warm. You must be hungry."

* * *

Up in his bedroom, Gon heard a strangely familiar voice join the conversation downstairs. Cautiously, he crept partway down the staircase to investigate. There was a woman with long, purple hair seated at the table with Mito and Abe, conversing with them over tea; Gon knew he had seen her before, he just had to remember who she was.

"So what brings you back to Whale Island, dear?" Abe asked eagerly, leaning forward with her chin on her hand.

"I wanted some solitude, mostly," she replied, sipping her tea. "Kite and I have done a few stressful missions recently, so I wanted to escape to the forest here for a few days. Especially with the Hunter Exam coming up."

"What does the Exam have to do with it?" Abe inquired. "Don't you already have your license?"

Mito sipped her tea distantly.

"Oh yes, I do," the woman answered. "I got mine the same year Kite got his. But Hisoka is taking the Exam again this year, so the Hunter Association wants me to come back again and try to keep him under control like last year."

Abe scoffed. "Because it did so much good last year. Didn't he almost kill an Examiner?"

"It wouldn't have been 'almost' if I hadn't have been there to intervene."

Mito set her tea down almost robotically. "But why are you _here_?"

The woman turned to her. "Because when I was in the market, I heard some of the merchants saying that you were finally going to let Gon take the Hunter Exam. I figured he could come with me."

Mito glared at her.

She arched an eyebrow. "Unless you have a problem with that?"

Coldly, Mito replied, "You know how I feel about you being around Gon, Cerridwen."

 _That's who she is!_ Gon thought excitedly, eyes dancing as memories of adventures in the woods and laughs on the beach came flooding back to him. _Aunt Cerridwen!_

The air around Cerridwen changed from warm and pleasant to slightly hostile. "I thought you would have buried that hatchet by now, Mito."

"I could overlook it, if it wasn't for the fact that you'll be with that homicidal clown at the exam. You know I don't approve of your relationship with him."

Cerridwen leaned forward on the table slightly. "Hisoka may be less than moral, but he respects me and respects my wishes. On that note, so does Kite, and even though he's not particularly crazy about Hisoka either, he trusts my instincts."

Abe sipped her tea discreetly, clearly somewhat amused by the exchange.

Mito moved back from the table slightly and raised her hands defensively. "Now, I know how you live your life is none of my business, but Gon is going to see you with Hisoka there. What if he remembers seeing you being with Kite? He's smart enough to know a love as strong as that would never die. Won't he be confused seeing you with another man? You know how emotional he gets, what if it makes him think less of you? In the middle of the Hunter Exam? If he gets distracted he could die!"

"The only person who thinks less of Cerridwen for being polyamorous is you, Mito," Abe replied evenly, a small smirk on her lips.

Cerridwen tried not to smile at Abe's defending comment. "Mito, the last time Kite was on Whale Island, I think Gon was what, four? I doubt he'd remember him."

Gon leaned against the railing. It was true; for the life of him, he couldn't recall anything about this Kite person. But if Cerridwen was in love with him, Gon knew that he must have been a decent person.

"Also," Cerridwen elaborated, "do you think Ging didn't know about my love life when he told me he'd like me to help watch over Gon?"

Mito fell silent.

"Besides," Cerridwen added, "Gon's the sweetest, most understanding child I've ever known. He'd probably be more accepting of it than most anyone."

Taking that as his cue to lighten the mood, Gon came tearing down the stairs and into the room.  
"Aunt Cerridwen!"

Cerridwen grinned, turning to see the spiky-haired boy running toward her.

"Gon!" she exclaimed, jumping out of the chair and crouching down to receive the full force of the running hug. As Gon collided with her, he nearly knocked her over. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around him and tenderly kissed his cheek. He smiled and buried his face in her shoulder.

"It's been ages; you've grown so much," she said, fighting back nostalgic tears.

"I missed you, Cerridwen-san," he mumbled into her hair.

She giggled. "Do I _already_ have to remind you to just call me Cerridwen?"

As they broke apart, Gon turned to Mito and inquired, "Mito-san, why didn't you tell me Cerridwen was here?"

"Well I figured you were busy packing," she answered. "I was going to let you know once we finished our tea."

Gon smiled. "Oh, okay!"

Cerridwen smirked and gently took Gon by the shoulders. "So, I hear you're leaving for the Hunter Exam tomorrow?"

Gon nodded excitedly.

"So am I," she stated happily. "The Association wants me to keep an eye on one of the participants. Would you like to go together?"

Gon grinned from ear to ear. "Yes! I'd love to!"

"The ferry leaves tomorrow, doesn't it?" Abe chimed in. "Why don't you stay here for the night, Cerridwen?"

Unseen by Cerridwen, Mito clutched her chest.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be any bother," Cerridwen said. "I've been camping in the forest every night, I can make due."

"Bah, nonsense!" Abe waved the statement away. "We can at least spare you the couch for the night, can't we Mito?"

Begrudgingly, Mito relented. "Well, alright. As long as you'll make sure Gon stays safe. Let me go find you a pillow and a blanket."

Cerridwen gave her an earnest, grateful smile. "Thank you, Mito. And you too, Abe."

The old woman laughed, "Oh don't mention it! You're practically family!"

"That's right," Mito added, relaxing slightly at the sight of the gleeful smile on Gon's face. "You're family."


	2. The Man on the Straw

"Now remember," Mito preached as she walked out of the house alongside Cerridwen, "you promised to take care of him. Make sure he eats. And sleeps. And bathes. And for god's sake, keep that clown away from him."

Cerridwen laughed, turning to Mito and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Mito, relax. He'll be fine. He's Ging's son. And as for Hisoka, he has enough sense to know if he harms Gon I'll rain fire and brimstone on him. Literally."

Mito glanced sideways before looking at the ground, shifting uneasily. "Well, I guess you're right," she conceded. Looking back up, she added, "You be careful too, alright? I'm sure Ging wouldn't be too pleased if he found out anything happened to either of you two."

Cerridwen gave her a reassuring smile before pulling her into a warm hug. "Thank you, I will be." Breaking away, she crossed her arms and mused, "You know, I don't remember you going all protective mother hen like this when Kite punched Gon years ago."

Mito laughed, but then what Cerridwen had said finally sunk in, and her expression snapped to one of shock. "Wait _, what_?"

Cerridwen froze. "Oh, um, look at the time! I'll start heading down the path; tell Gon I'll be waiting for him!"

With that, she pivoted and started power walking down the dirt trail.

Mito whipped around and looked at Abe, who was standing in the doorway chuckling.

"Did you know about that?" she demanded.

Abe only laughed. "It was for his own good, dear. He wandered too close to a bear cub and the mother was about to attack; Kite was just protecting him... and teaching him a lesson at the same time. If you ask me, it's exactly what he needed."

Mito blinked a few times, then sighed, going back into the house to walk Gon out.

* * *

"... and after I caught the Lord of the Lake, Mito-san said I could take the Hunter Exam!" Gon exclaimed, concluding his tale of heroism as he and Cerridwen continued the long walk to the docks.

Cerridwen smirked, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Your dad would be proud of you," she commented with a chuckle. "He told me he caught the Lord when he was your age, too."

"You never told me how you know my dad, did you?" Gon queried, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "I just remember Mito-san calling you my Aunt Cerridwen when I was younger. You're not really my aunt, are you?"

Cerridwen giggled and ruffled the boy's dark hair. "Not really, no, not by blood or marriage. Your dad was the man who trained Kite and I to become Hunters. Well, mostly Kite. He taught me a little bit, and Kite taught me whatever he could, but Ging said that he felt there was someone else out in the world who would give me the final push to achieve my greatest power."

"But," Gon began, scratching his head, "you're already really powerful, and you passed the Hunter Exam on your first try with Kite, didn't you?"

She nodded.

"Then what could he have meant?"

"I honestly don't know," Cerridwen replied with a shrug. After a moment, she added, "Oh! And Gon?"

"Yeah?" he answered enthusiastically.

"Don't let anyone know that I'm already a licensed Hunter, okay? I need to keep a low profile in order to keep an eye on my charge without getting the others suspicious."

"Okay, no problem!" Gon said with a beaming grin. "I wouldn't want to make things hard on you."

Cerridwen gave a soft, wistful smile as Gon proceeded a few steps ahead of her. She hadn't thought about the day that she and Kite had first met Ging in a long time, and suddenly found herself vividly revisiting it in her mind.

* * *

Cerridwen couldn't have been more than twelve at the time, sitting alone on a wooden crate in a dusty cobblestone alley. She was clad in raggedy old clothes of varying sizes, her purple hair tied back in the most haphazard way. She watched the sky expectantly as a bandaged white dog approached her and nudged her leg.

"Any second now then, huh?" she asked, reaching down to pet the dog but not tearing her eyes from the sky.

The dog wagged its tail happily.

Suddenly, a raven appeared overhead carrying a loaf of bread in its talons. Cerridwen jumped off the crate and whistled to get the bird's attention. Seeing her, it dropped the bread and continued flying.

"Here we go, boy!" she exclaimed to the dog, catching the bread and beginning to dash down the alley, keeping an eye on the raven.

She followed it for a few blocks until she came to an intersecting alley, to find a boy of about sixteen with long white hair waiting there. He wore a blue hat and an oversized navy blue coat. She tossed him the loaf of bread, and the dog ran to him.

"See you at home!" she called over her shoulder as they both continued to run in separate directions.

A few winding alleyways later, they met back up at the entrance to a system of sewers. The boy was already waiting there, looking perplexed until he saw Cerridwen round the corner.

"You took a while," he commented as she reached him, pulling her into a relieved embrace. "I was starting to think you got caught."

She gave a weak laugh. "I'm ok, Kite, you know no one can find me except you."

He smiled, pushing the gated entrance to the sewer open. "C'mon, let's get inside; I want to check on that horse we found the other day."

"Yeah," Cerridwen agreed, walking alongside Kite as the dog bolted past her to get inside. "She was scraped up pretty badly. I hope she's healing up ok."

As they made their way further into the tunnels, various bandaged-up dogs and cats that they had rescued joined them in procession. When they reached the pile of straw the horse was resting on, though, they received quite a surprise.

There, sitting cross-legged next to the horse, was a man neither of them had seen before. He had dark brown hair, and his chin was scruffy with stubble. His head was wrapped in a sort of turban, and he wore a huge trenchcoat. One of their dogs was standing in his lap, licking his face.

Instinctively, Kite reached over and pulled Cerridwen behind him, shielding her from the stranger.

"Did you know," the man began, smiling charismatically, "that good Hunters are well-liked by animals?"

"Stay behind me, Carrie," Kite whispered, not tearing his eyes away from him for even a moment.

Cerridwen gripped the back of Kite's coat tighter, shrinking behind him and peering nervously at the man from around his side.

"Relax," the man said, setting the dog to the side and slowly rising to his feet, one hand extended in an attempt at a reassuring gesture. "I'm not here to hurt either of you."

Kite didn't drop his guard. "She's had bad experiences with strange men her entire life, and I'm not going to do anything to make her feel endangered; forgive us if we take a while to trust you," he finished with a scowl.

"Yes, I know," he said, taking a few cautious steps closer to them. "I've been watching the two of you for weeks; you're very close. But clearly not siblings. How long have you known each other?"

The pair remained silent.

"My name is Ging Freecss," he greeted amicably. "I'm a Hunter. And I think the two of you have what it takes to be particularly good Hunters, too. Especially you, young man."

Kite stared at him defiantly. "What makes you so sure?"

Ging chuckled. "I've seen how much you both care for these animals, and how much they love you in return. And I don't think I need to mention how fiercely protective the two of you are toward each other."

Kite cocked his head, still not dropping his guard. "What's a Hunter?"

"A Hunter is someone who craves adventure above all else," he replied with a smile. "Some Hunters search for fame and fortune, others to help make the world a better place... they do anything they desire, really."

Kite remained silent, and the air grew tense.

"Eight years."

Ging and Kite exchanged glances of bewilderment, before Kite felt Cerridwen let go of his coat.

"We've known each other for eight years," she repeated, stepping out from behind Kite and taking a couple steps closer to Ging. "He saved my life. We've been surviving together ever since."

A little shaken by Cerridwen's sudden change of attitude, Kite walked behind her and placed a protective hand on her shoulder.

Ging got down on one knee to bring himself a little lower than eye-level with the plum-haired girl. "What's your name? Carrie, I think he called you?"

"Cerridwen," she answered, bringing her hand up to rest on top of Kite's, as if telling him to relax.

Ging directed his gaze to the boy. "And you?"

"Kite," he responded uncertainly.

"Why the sudden change of heart, Kite?" Ging inquired, tilting his head like a confused puppy.

"If Cerridwen can trust you, then so can I. Her instincts have never steered us wrong before."

"Reliable instincts are a good skill to have," Ging said with a grin, turning back to Cerridwen. "So, are you interested in what I have to say?"

She nodded.

"Alright then!" he exclaimed happily, going back to the horse and sitting back down next to it. "So! Here's what you need to know to become a Hunter."


	3. Sea Shanties and Lullabies

_Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies  
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain  
For we have received orders to sail to old England  
We hope in a short time to see you again_

"Tch," came the voice of a boy in the corner, munching noisily on an apple. "Almost everyone in here is sick, and they're up there _singing_."

Gon sat up straighter, taking a break from helping some of the many seasick occupants of the boat to realize that he recognized one of the singing voices. He made his way out of the room and to the pilot house, to find Cerridwen and the Captain dancing merrily, passing a flask of what he could only guess was some alcoholic beverage between them.

 _Now let every man drink up his full bumper  
Let every man drink up his full glass  
We'll drink and be jolly, and drown melancholy  
And here's to the health of each true-hearted lass_

 _We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors  
We'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt sea  
Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England  
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues_

The two laughed as they finished their song, the Captain returning to the helm and Cerridwen sitting in a nearby chair with the flask, kicking her feet up on a table.

"Amazing!" Gon applauded from the doorway.

The Captain jumped and whipped around, and Cerridwen almost dropped the flask.

"Gon!" she exclaimed in surprise, standing up and walking over to him. "What's up?"

"I heard you singing from below deck," he answered, grinning, "so I came to see what all the fun was about."

The Captain looked confused. "You know this kid, Cerridwen?"

"Of course I do!" was her reply. "This is Ging's son, Gon."

"You know each other?" Gon asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh, yeah!" The Captain responded, with uproarious laughter. "We go way back! I sailed her and her little snowflake boyfriend to the Exam way back when they were rookies like you."

Cerridwen whipped her head around and glared at him. "But if anyone asks, this is my second attempt at taking the Exam, and I'm not a Hunter."

"Oh, right, sorry, I forgot," The Captain mumbled sheepishly.

"It's fine," she chuckled, giving the Captain back his flask and turning toward the door. "Now, if you boys don't mind, I think I'm gonna go take a nap."

"Okay, sleep well!" Gon called after her.

* * *

"Cerridwen! Cerridwen, wake up!"

The sound of Gon's voice startled Cerridwen awake, making her sit bolt upright in the hammock she had been sleeping in. The hammock swung violently, tipping to the side and making her fall to the hard wooden floor below.

"...ouch," she grumbled, turning her head to see three pairs of feet standing near her. One was Gon, another clad in light blue slip-on shoes, and the last in black dress shoes.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Gon exclaimed, as the dress shoes made their way closer to Cerridwen. She felt someone take hold of her arms and help shift her into a sitting position, leaning her against a wooden beam. After gaining her bearings, she found herself looking into a pair of warm brown eyes, peering at her over a pair of dark round glasses.

"Are you alright?" the young man asked her. "Did you hit your head?"

Behind him, a boy with medium-length blonde hair (and the owner of the blue shoes) crossed his arms. "Don't crowd her, Leorio. Give her a chance to completely wake up before you interrogate her."

"I'm not interrogating her, Kurapika!" Leorio snapped, his head spinning to glare at his grey-eyed companion. "I'm trying to make sure she doesn't have a concussion, alright? Geez!"

"Woah, ok, everyone calm down," Cerridwen managed, sounding like she was coming out of a daze. "First of all," she continued, looking at Gon, "it's fine Gon, don't apologize."

Gon let out a huge sigh of relief.

Cerridwen turned to Kurapika. "Secondly, thank you, I'm incredibly confused right now."

Kurapika nodded.

Finally, she turned back to Leorio and said, "Thank you for helping me, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a concussion; I've survived worse blows from well-intended punches and come out unscathed."

"Well, if you're sure," he mumbled, rising to his feet and reaching a hand down to her. She grabbed hold of it, and he pulled her into a standing position.

Cerridwen took this chance to take a better look at him. He had short, ruffled black hair, striking facial features, and he wore a dark blue suit with a green-teal tie. He looked to be about twenty, give or take a year.

"Again, thank you," she smiled.

"Oh, don't mention it!" he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Anything to help a friend of Gon's!" he finished with a nervous chuckle.

Kurapika rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Cerridwen," Gon began, running up to her, "these are my new friends, Kurapika and Leorio! They're going to take the Hunter Exam too!"

"Pleased to meet you, Cerridwen-san," Kurapika said with a smile. He looked about seventeen, and had a strange air of determination about him that Cerridwen had rarely seen on someone so young, almost like he was on a mission. He wore a blue tabard with orange detailing, over a full white training suit.

"Same to you, Kurapika. Just Cerridwen is fine, please," she responded.

Leorio gave a weak smirk, hand still on his neck. "Nice to meet you, Cerridwen."

"Likewise," she answered, fighting back a chuckle. Turning to Gon, she inquired, "You've made two good friends already? How long was I asleep?"

"All night," Gon stated. "I came in to check on you once or twice, but you were sound asleep every time."

" _What_?" Leorio roared incredulously. "How did you manage to sleep through that storm?"

Cerridwen arched an eyebrow. "Storm?"

Kurapika tilted his head. "You mean you really didn't know?"

"It was a really big storm, Cerridwen!" Gon recalled enthusiastically. "There were enormous waves! And gale-force winds! Someone even went overboard!"

"Oh no!" Cerridwen gasped, covering her mouth in horror.

" _Two_ people, actually," Kurapika clarified.

Cerridwen's eyes widened.

"Gon jumped over the side of the boat to save the boy who went overboard," Kurapika explained. "He grabbed onto the boy, and Leorio and I grabbed onto him and pulled them to safety."

Cerridwen clutched her chest and leaned back on the post. "Thank you both for looking out for him! His aunt would _murder_ me if I let anything happen to him."

"So," Leorio began, putting his hands in his pockets and tilting his head quizzically, "are you only here to look after Gon, or are you taking the Exam too?"

"Oh no, I'm taking the exam too!" she replied with a grin. "It's my second, and hopefully last, year. What about you two?"

"It's my first try," Leorio answered.

"Mine as well," Kurapika said.

"Great!" Gon shouted, jumping in the air. "We should all go together!"

The two older boys smiled warmly at the twelve-year-old, as did Cerridwen. Her heart swelled with joy to see the bright-eyed optimist that Gon had become.

"Well," Cerridwen declared, picking up her bag from the floor and slinging it over her shoulder, "I have no objections. The more, the merrier."

"Yay!" Gon exclaimed, darting for the exit to the boat's deck. "Come on, you three! We're gonna become Hunters!"

Leorio gave a quiet laugh, picking up his black and red briefcase and turning to Cerridwen.

"Has he always been like this?" he asked, as the two of them followed Kurapika to catch up with Gon.

"You mean an absolute bubble of sunshine?" she giggled.

He smirked. "Mm-hm."

"Then yes," she replied, brushing her bangs out of her face. "Ever since he was a baby."

"So are you, like, his sister or something? Because you don't look related."

"Oh no, I'm his aunt."

Leorio's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not _really_ his aunt. He just called me that when he was younger. His dad was my mentor since I was Gon's age, and when I turned twenty or so he asked me to drop in occasionally and help Mito and Abe with young Gon. So, I was officially Aunt Cerridwen."

Leorio arched an eyebrow. "Why doesn't he call you that anymore?"

"Because I told him to just call me Cerridwen." She smiled proudly. "He's about to become a Hunter, and go find his dad...which I know for a fact won't be easy. I know someone else who had to find Gon's father after he completed the Exam, and it took him years."

"Really? Who?"

"The boy who he mentored with me," she replied as they walked out onto the sun-drenched deck of the boat, reaching up to touch the pendant around her neck: a round bluish-purple glass stone, with mirrored pewter crescent moons on either side of it, attached to a silver chain. "Kite."

"Ahhh," Leorio crowed knowingly, "Kite, eh? So, is this Kite your lover?"

"Yes," Cerridwen laughed as the two of them joined Gon and Kurapika in the middle of the ship's deck. "That and so much more."

* * *

"Oh no," fourteen-year-old Cerridwen giggled, holding baby Gon in her arms. "Don't eat that, little one...Ging! I need a little help with your squirmy potato!"

Cerridwen had never held a baby before, and suddenly she found herself alone in the middle of Gon's nursery, in the childhood home of her mentor, trying to hold the rambunctious infant as he tried to eat her necklace.

Ging walked in the doorway, then doubled over laughing at the look of sheer panic on the girl's face.

"Cerridwen," he forced, leaning against the doorframe and catching his breath, "it's just a necklace. The edges aren't sharp. He'll be fine."

She gawked at him. "I haven't cleaned this necklace in years, Ging."

His eyes widened. "Oh god, get that thing out of his mouth!" he exclaimed, dashing over to her and gingerly removing the pendant from the grasp of his son.

"I'm sorry, Ging," she said, shifting the position of her arms around Gon slightly. "I'm just not used to babies...I don't seem to have enough hands."

"I'm not good with them either," he chuckled, crouching alongside her and brushing small, wispy hairs off of Gon's forehead. "Why else do you think I'm leaving him with Mito and Abe?"

"Because you're a Hunter," she stated matter-of-factly, turning her head slightly to face him. "You crave adventure above all else."

Ging wanted to be angry, but all he could do was smile at her. "Well, I can't argue with that. I have a few more things to straighten out with Mito before she'll let us leave, I'll send up a couple more hands to help you out with him in the meantime."

"I'd definitely appreciate it," she admitted with an exasperated sigh as Ging walked out the door and into the hallway.

"Kite!" she heard him call as he walked downstairs. "Go help Cerridwen settle Gon down!"

From the sound of Ging's voice shouting through the house, Gon started to cry. Cerridwen looked down at the infant in horror, absolutely no idea how to handle the situation.

"It's a baby, Carrie, not a time bomb," Kite chuckled as he strode into the room.

Cerridwen glared at the older boy in the white turtleneck. "You know damn well I have no experience with kids; I have no idea where to even begin with this."

Kite walked up behind her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly.

"Try singing to him," he suggested. "You have a lovely voice."

"Singing?" she repeated, blushing slightly at the compliment.

"Yeah," he confirmed with a shrug. "That's what I always used to do to get you to relax when we were younger, don't you remember?"

She did. Vividly. And fondly. It didn't matter what song it was; whenever Kite sang to her, she felt safe.

"I don't know if he'll find the same comfort in bouncy Irish folk songs that I do, Kite," she managed as she adjusted the wriggling, wailing baby in her arms.

"Do you remember that night," he inquired, "after you were almost jumped by that big burly bastard, not long after we met?"

Cerridwen smirked, despite struggling to hold Gon. "You mean the guy eight times your size that you almost beat to a pulp for touching me? How could I forget?"

"You couldn't sleep at all that night," Kite recalled. "You were terrified. I remember lying there on the other side of the straw pile, listening to you cry, feeling my heart breaking into pieces because nothing I could think of had helped. So I tried the next thing that came to my mind: I moved over to your side of the straw and held you, and sang you the most comforting song I knew until you fell asleep."

Cerridwen smiled distantly. She remembered that night, she remembered how safe and warm she felt in Kite's arms, and she remembered the power that song had over her. But she couldn't remember the song.

He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder and looking at the screaming baby.

"Do you remember how it starts?"

"I-I'm not sure," she confessed quietly.

Kite chuckled gently, before singing the first line.

 _Nothing's gonna harm you  
Not while I'm around_

Cerridwen felt tears begin to brim in her eyes, and she joined Kite in singing as the words came back to her.

 _Nothing's gonna harm you, darling  
Not while I'm around  
Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays  
I'll send 'em howling, I don't care  
I got ways_

 _No one's gonna hurt you  
No one's gonna dare  
Others can desert you, not to worry  
Whistle, I'll be there  
Demons'll charm you with a smile  
For a while  
But in time  
Nothing can harm you  
Not while I'm around_

Tears running down her cheeks, Cerridwen looked down to see that Gon was fast asleep in her arms, a smile on his tiny lips. Kite walked around to the front of her chair and crouched down, reaching up to tenderly wipe the tears from her face and kissing her forehead.

"Maybe that should be your special power when you train your Nen enough," Kite commented, resting a hand on her cheek.

"Pfft, what, crying?" she said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"No," Kite answered gently, looking intently into her eyes. "Singing."

Cerridwen blushed. "It's a nice thought, but we don't even know what kind of Nen I have."

"Well then," came Ging's voice from the doorway, "maybe it's about time we found out."

The two teenagers pivoted to face him, clearly startled.

"How long were you standing there?" Kite asked, using Cerridwen's knee as a support to stand up.

"The whole time," Ging responded casually, a wry smirk on his face. "Which you would have known if you'd been practicing your En."

Cerridwen rose to her feet and gently placed the sleeping Gon in his cradle, leaning over to kiss his forehead before looking back at Ging. "In all fairness, we had a restless baby to settle down."

"That's no excuse for a lapse in vigilance, Cerridwen," Ging argued in a sing-song voice, turning and beginning to walk down the hall. "Come on you two, we have training to do!"

Kite and Cerridwen turned to each other before dissolving into quiet laughter.

"By the way," she began as they started to walk toward the door, "you never did tell me where that song is from."

"It's from a musical about a homicidal barber," he answered nonchalantly.

"Oh," Cerridwen said, flipping the lights off as they exited the nursery. "Good to know."


	4. The Beast and the Harlot

The remainder of the journey to the Exam Site went rather smoothly for the four friends, despite some frustration at the pop-quiz roadblock and the fiasco of proving their worth to the Navigators. The group now found themselves in a hidden elevator in the back room of a restaurant, descending to where the other participants of the Hunter Exam waited. Cerridwen stood leaning against the wall, silently observing Kurapika and Leorio bicker over what type of Hunter it was better to be, while Gon sat between them at the table, caught in the middle. Part of her wanted to step in, but in the back of her mind she heard Ging's voice telling her to let him take in the conflict for himself, to give him time to form his own opinions based on their arguments... something both Ging and Kite had told her to do for herself back in the days when she avoided conflict like the plague.

"Cerridwen!" Leorio demanded. "Since Gon won't answer, what kind of Hunter do you want to be?"

Kurapika turned to face Cerridwen as well. "Yes, what do you think is most important?"

Cerridwen sighed, crossing her arms.

"Well," she began, "money is definitely a plus."

Leorio grinned in satisfaction, sticking his tongue out at Kurapika.

"However, I've never been a fan of living in the limelight. I don't want fame. Growing up with Kite, well, he taught me that there are more important things in life than fame and fortune. Putting on a face to satisfy the world, pretending to be something more than you are... that's just something neither of us ever did."

Leorio's jaw nearly hit the floor, while both Kurapika and Gon smiled proudly.

"Even though I'm not a licensed Hunter yet," Cerridwen continued, starting to toy nervously with her pendant, "I go out and help Kite regularly with his contract hunter jobs. It's dangerous work, and honestly I'm barely strong enough to hold my own in the field, but it's worth the risk. Nine times out of ten we get contracted to do jobs that are beneficial to humans or animals, such as containing a voracious predator or saving an area from being destroyed. We do what little we can to make the world a better place, not by advancing it into the future, but by protecting what's already here."

Kurapika gave a gentle smile. "You sound like you already _are_ a licensed Hunter."

Gon erupted into nervous laughter.

"Who, Cerridwen?" he asked, clutching his sides. "Nah, she doesn't have a license! It's only her second year! She's practically still a rookie like us!"

Leorio and Kurapika both raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Gon, then turned to look at Cerridwen.

"I get that a lot," she lied, with a weak smirk. "He thinks it's hilarious."

Just as Leorio was getting ready to argue, the room stopped moving and the elevator doors slid open. With slight trepidation, the group wandered out into an enormous room that appeared to be part of an underground tunnel.

The room was packed with other Exam participants, of all ages, many of whom looked incredibly intimidating. Cerridwen had seen many of them in years past, but they all seemed more determined than they had before.

"It's really tense down here," Leorio commented. "Must be something in the air."

Cerridwen continued to scan the crowd, as a short man with a round green face came up to them.

"Welcome to the Hunter Exam," he greeted in a friendly manner. "My name is Beans. Here, take your numbers."

With that, he handed the each of them a large, white button with a number written on it in big black print: Leorio got 403, Kurapika got 404, Gon got 405, and Cerridwen got 406.

"Please keep these badges visible on your chest at all times," he requested, as the four of them pinned their numbers on. Turning to Cerridwen, he commented, "I expected you to arrive with Number 44."

Cerridwen looked down at him. "44? So that's his number this year?"

He nodded.

"Thanks a million, Beans," she said with a smile as he walked away.

"Hey, Cerridwen! I didn't expect you back this year! And with three rookies, no less!"

Cerridwen cringed at the all-too-familiar voice approaching them, and turned to see a short, plump man with brown hair and a smug smile approaching them.

"Tonpa," she replied mechanically.

"So, which one of your men will you be competing alongside _this_ time?" he asked, with an expression on his face that Cerridwen could only describe as a shit-eating grin. "That snowflake you came with years ago, or the psychopath from last year? Or do you have a new one in mind this time?"

"Years ago?" Kurapika repeated, looking from Tonpa to Cerridwen. "I thought you said this was only your second try."

"I _knew_ something seemed off about you," Leorio added, hands on his hips.

Gon was ready to jump to her defense, but she reached down and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Yes, I took the exam once before last year," she admitted with a huff. "Years ago."

Leorio tilted his head. "Was the 'snowflake' Kite?"

"Yes," she answered with a half-smile. "His skin is pale, and he has long, white hair, so I started calling him that as a term of endearment, and some people adopted it for other means."

After a moment of slightly awkward silence, Tonpa switched gears and put on an incredibly amiable air. "So, you rookies want some advice?"

Cerridwen scoffed, turning away from the group and continuing to scan the crowd. Tonpa was known as the Rookie Crusher; his sole purpose during the Hunter Exam was to trick participants into trusting him and then betraying them somewhere down the line. She knew Gon was smart enough to at the very least thwart his attempts at making him fail, and that Kurapika and Leorio were no idiots either, so she paid little attention as Tonpa described some of the veteran participants to the three boys.

Suddenly, an agonized scream echoed throughout the tunnel.

Everyone pivoted in the direction of the sound to see a man collapsing to the floor, his arms gradually disappearing into a cloud of floating cherry blossoms. There, standing in the middle of the cloud, stood a man Cerridwen's age, clad in a harlequin-esque outfit of white and pink, and a yellow sash tied around his waist. The front of his shirt was graced with a midnight-purple club and spade, the back with a bright red heart and diamond, like the symbols on playing cards. His hair was a brilliant crimson, styled up and backward. He had a hot pink star drawn under his right eye, and an aqua teardrop beneath his left. Upon his chest was a badge, like the ones all the other participants wore, bearing the number 44. His eyes fell upon Cerridwen, and a familiar smirk crept across his face.

Cerridwen smiled back at him.

"That would be the magician Hisoka," Tonpa said in a slightly hesitant tone.

Cerridwen turned back to face the group. "And that would be my cue to leave. I'll meet up with you all again during the Exam. Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, be safe."

With that, she turned and strode away, purple hair flowing elegantly behind her.

Leorio stared after her, an expression of disbelief on his entire person. "Wait... Cerridwen knows that asshole?"

"Beans did say he expected her to show up with Number 44," Kurapika commented, arching an eyebrow.

"And the night before we left," Gon chimed in, "I heard Mito-san say something about Cerridwen being with a 'homicidal clown'."

" _'Being with'_?" Leorio repeated in a slightly troubled tone.

As they redirected their gazes to Hisoka, they saw that he had his hands on Cerridwen's waist, her body pulled against his, and she had a hand resting on the side of his face.

"Oh," Leorio muttered, blinking a few times in shock. " _Being_ with."

Tonpa chuckled. "You mean you didn't know? Hisoka and Cerridwen were last year's most formidable pair; people were calling them 'The Beast and the Harlot'."

"But...she told me Kite was her lover..." Leorio said in a confused tone, scratching his head.

"Hence the 'Harlot' title," Tonpa confirmed with a nod. "At first I thought she couldn't possibly still be with the snowflake, but last year Hisoka asked her how he was doing and she said that she had just finished helping him with a job, so apparently she's with them both. Sounds pretty harlot-y to me."

"Oh no, she's polyamorous," Gon replied matter-of-factly. "At least that's what Abe called it."

"Polywhattawho?" Leorio asked, scratching his head again.

"Polyamorous," Kurapika repeated. "Yes, that explains it. As long as everyone involved is informed of and comfortable with the situation, there's nothing dishonorable about it."

Tonpa grunted. "Whatever you say, but most people in this room don't see it that way. Especially since Hisoka is involved."

"Well, Cerridwen is involved," Gon argued, "so it can't be all that bad."

* * *

"Cerridwen," Hisoka greeted, placing his hands on Cerridwen's waist as she reached him.

"Hisoka," she replied with a playful smirk, placing a hand on his cheek and leaning into him. "It's been a while."

"Yes, longer than expected," he agreed, his brilliant gold eyes flashing in the direction of Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio, before falling back on Cerridwen.

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me, you murderous ass," she giggled, sliding her hand from his cheek to the back of his neck.

" _Ouch_ ," he said jokingly, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist. "Darling, I'm hurt. If you're going to insult me, please remember to at least slap my face too."

"Maybe when we're alone," she responded. "I wouldn't want to expose all these poor people to what happens to you when I do."

"Fair enough," he conceded, before pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss.

Cerridwen's heart raced, and her blood boiled. No matter what the circumstances, Hisoka's kiss always had an overwhelming effect on her, making her legs threaten to give out beneath her. He broke away for a moment to breathe, but Cerridwen quickly bridged the gap again, catching him by surprise as her lips met his once more.

"If I didn't know any better," Hisoka said with a smirk as they broke apart, "I'd say you missed me."

"Funny," Cerridwen mused, "I was just about to say the same thing."

"Well, you wouldn't exactly be wrong," he admitted, gazing into her emerald eyes with what could only be described as hunger. "Oh, shall we use the same intimidation tactic we used last year?"

Cerridwen rolled her eyes. "You mean the dumb coordinating makeup thing? Why?"

"Oh, but you looked so good," he whined, placing his hands on her shoulders.

She furrowed her brow, trying not to smile.

Hisoka stuck out his lower lip in a strangely attractive attempt at a pout.

"Oh, _alright_ ," Cerridwen sighed. "Have at it, I know you're dying to."

"Wonderful," Hisoka said with a sort of devious glee, producing several colors of eyeliner pencils seemingly out of thin air.

Cerridwen gulped.

 _What did I get myself into?_


	5. Follow the Leader

"Welcome back, Cerridwen," Kurapika greeted as Cerridwen made her way back to the three boys.

"Thanks, Kurapika," she replied with a sweet smile. "Tonpa didn't try to sell you any bullshit, did he?"

"GYAAAHHHH!" Leorio screamed, jumping back a few feet and pointing at Cerridwen's face. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?"

"Oh _no_ ," she gasped in horror, digging around in her bag. "Where is that mirror... don't tell me he drew dicks on my face."

"Who would draw ducks on your face?" Gon inquired, tilting his head.

Cerridwen laughed nervously, giving up the search for the mirror. "Yeah...ducks. Right."

The makeup that Hisoka had done on Cerridwen certainly didn't warrant Leorio's reaction. He had amped up her eyeliner, taking it from a small black wing to a somewhat larger one. He had also drawn a golden star beneath her right eye, and an aqua waxing crescent moon beneath her left, and put a coat of mauve lipstick on her mouth.

"I think you look beautiful, Cerridwen," Gon said earnestly, eyes dancing.

Kurapika nodded in agreement. "It is strangely becoming."

"O-oh!" Cerridwen said in surprise, not expecting the compliments. "Thank you. The coordinating makeup thing is just this dumb intimidation tactic Hisoka likes to use during the Exam...I honestly think he just likes having an excuse to do my makeup, but I could be wrong."

"About Hisoka," Leorio began, shifting his grip on his briefcase over his shoulder, "how on earth did you get tangled up with _him_?"

Cerridwen chuckled. "It's quite the story, actually. I was twenty, I think, and Kite-"

Suddenly, the large wall at the end of the room began to rise upward, a deafening grating sound emanating from it. A man came out from the opening: tall and slim, in a dark suit and red ascot, with short curled lilac hair, a black twirled mustache, and no visible mouth.

"...and that would be Satotz," Cerridwen muttered. "Phase One of the Exam is probably about to start."

"Who?" Gon queried.

"Satotz," Cerridwen repeated. "He was the Phase One Examiner last year too. Now, I'm sorry I keep bailing on you, but I should probably get back to Hisoka and make sure he plans on behaving himself for a little while. I'll meet up with you all as soon as I can."

"Okay!" Gon responded, grinning. "See you soon!"

Cerridwen crouched down, placing her hand on Gon's shoulder and kissing his forehead tenderly.

"I don't know what Phase One is going to entail," she said quietly, leaning back and looking seriously into his eyes. "If we get separated by any drastic means, promise you won't wait for me and you'll stay safe?"

Gon nodded quickly.

"That's my boy," she whispered with a smile, patting his shoulder before standing back up. Waving at the three boys one last time, she turned and sauntered back to Hisoka.

* * *

"Hmmm?" Hisoka asked in a lilting tone when Cerridwen reached him, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Back so soon?"

"Well I have to at least _start_ the Exam with you," she replied in an equally flirty manner, leaning against his side and turning to face Satotz, who was going over the usual preliminary guidelines for the Exam.

"Oh, that's right," Hisoka said with a smirk. "The Association has you babysitting me again this year."

She scoffed. "I wouldn't have to if you didn't insist on taking your frustration out on that Examiner last year. You almost killed them."

" _Almost_ ," he repeated. "Such a shame you were there to watch me then, too. You don't plan on ruining _all_ my fun this year, do you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and listen to Satotz, would you?"

Hisoka turned his head and leaned in close to Cerridwen, his lips brushing against her ear.

"I love it when you get all demanding, Little Monster," he purred, biting gently on her earlobe, somehow missing the three piercings in the process.

"H-hisoka," she managed past the tremor that shook her entire frame, her knees going weak, "not here. Not now."

He let out a dark chuckle, making her temperature rise.

"Pity," he breathed, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine, kissing her ear. "It's been so long...I have _so much_ to share with you."

"Hisoka, please," she whined, angling her head away from him. "You'll attract everyone's attention."

"Oh? Now that _would_ be a tragedy," he mused, nipping at her ear again before reluctantly pulling away, turning his attention to Satotz.

"Follow me to Phase Two," Satotz called, turning around and walking away at a brisk pace.

"Hell, Phase One is an endurance test?" Cerridwen queried as she and Hisoka took off at a slow jog after Satotz, along with all the other applicants.

"You're not worried, are you?" Hisoka probed with a devious smirk. "You and I both know you have plenty of stamina to spare."

"Very funny," she said with a sarcastic chuckle. "No, actually, I'm worried about one of the boys I showed up with."

"The short one in green? I don't think you have reason to be, there's something about him that's just so...so..."

"Stop right there, Bobo the Clown," Cerridwen snapped, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'm _not_ letting you fight Gon. I promised Mito I'd look out for him. I mean, I have confidence in the kid, but you could kill him as easily as look at him."

"Hmmm?" Hisoka began, arching an eyebrow. "How well do you know this boy?"

She huffed. "He's my mentor's son. The one that I used to run off to Whale Island to watch? He used to call me Aunt Cerridwen."

"Oh yes, I remember you mentioning him now. Why don't you run ahead and keep an eye on him?"

Satotz picked up the pace, and Cerridwen and Hisoka adjusted theirs accordingly.

"Oh no you don't," Cerridwen declared. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Orders from the top."

Hisoka groaned quietly. "Cerridwen. I promise not to cause any trouble during Phase One. Go check on your 'nephew' and his friends. I'll meet you at the end of the tunnel."

Cerridwen's green eyes regarded him suspiciously. "How can I be sure you're not lying?"

Hisoka clutched at his chest dramatically, feigning an offended expression. "When have I ever lied to you?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Besides, what's the fun in causing trouble in Phase One and ruining the suspense?" he added with a laugh.

Cerridwen shrugged. "You _do_ have a point...ok, I'll go."

Hisoka grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, kissing her as they ran.

"See you at the finish line," he said with a mischievous smile, breaking away from her.

"See you there," she responded, turning away from him and speeding up to find Gon and the others.

* * *

"Hey you three!" Cerridwen called, running up alongside Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon.

"Hey, Cerridwen!" Gon replied, waving. Gesturing to a white-haired boy on the other side of him, he added, "This is my new friend Killua! He's my age!"

The boy turned and waved at Cerridwen with a smile. He had short, fluffy white hair and slanted, striking blue eyes. He wore a navy blue turtleneck underneath a white v-neck t-shirt, navy blue shorts, and large purple tennis shoes; the badge on his chest bore the number 99. Under his arm he carried a bright yellow skateboard with an orange arrow running down its length.

"Nice to meet you!" Cerridwen called with a grin.

"Yeah, same!" Killua answered, seeming slightly confused at her instant friendliness.

Cerridwen looked over at Leorio and raised an eyebrow. He was the one that she had been worried about, and nothing could have prepared her for the sight she now beheld. He had his suitjacket tied around his waist, his white button-up shirt was nowhere in sight, his tie hung loosely about his neck, and the button with his number on it was affixed to his bare chest. His facial expression was a precarious balance between determined and slightly crazed as he barreled onward.

"What happened to him?" she asked Kurapika, trying to mask her concern.

"He fell all the way to the back for a moment," Kurapika explained, flipping his hair out of his face with a turn of his head as he looked at her. "I thought he was going to be disqualified. But Gon said he and Killua stood there staring at him until he started moving again. Next thing I knew, he bolted up alongside me looking like this."

Smirking, Cerridwen turned back to Leorio. "What happened to your shirt?"

"What does it matter?" Leorio asked loudly, his torso glistening with a slick coat of sweat, his eyes fixed dead ahead of him. "I realized if I stopped worrying about how stupid I look, I can beat this!"

Cerridwen laughed. "That's generally the best approach."

"I'm just worried he'll start realizing how tired he's getting shortly," Kurapika muttered so only Cerridwen could hear. "I've been trying to distract him with conversation, but I can only think of so much to talk about."

She reached over and patted his forearm reassuringly, before looking at Leorio and calling, "Hey, Leorio?"

Leorio turned his head slightly to glance at her. "Yeah?"

"Before Satotz showed up, you asked how I got tangled up with Hisoka. Did you still want to know?"

"Wait... _Number 44?_ " Killua gasped.

"Of _course_ I want to know!" Leorio shouted incredulously, his tie flapping in the wind behind him.

"Alright, story time then," Cerridwen began, taking off her cropped black leather jacket and tying the sleeves around her waist, revealing a form-fitting dark brown vest over a sage-colored long-sleeved v-neck in the process. "So, like I was saying, I was about twenty, and Kite was off trying to prove himself to Ging, so I was on my own..."


	6. Run, Little Monster

It was a chilly, beautiful spring night, and twenty-year-old Cerridwen was walking through the woods alone. She and Kite had passed the Hunter Exam together the previous year, but Ging wanted more out of Kite: he wanted Kite to find him. So Kite was off chasing Ging, leaving Cerridwen completely to her own devices for the first time since she was four years old. It was rough on both of them, especially since they had started officially dating two years before, but they were adjusting as well as anyone could expect. However, half the time Cerridwen didn't know what to do with herself; people would only contract her and Kite for hunting jobs as a pair at that point in time, since that's how they had been marketing themselves. If she wasn't on a job with Kite, she was alone and objectiveless.

That being said, she had spent the entirety of that day roaming the woods aimlessly. She and Kite would often sneak off to the woods together when Ging was training them, since he would attempt to keep them apart at times to get them accustomed to being separated. So the woods made her feel close to Kite, even if he was thousands of miles away.

She had climbed up into a tree and fallen asleep, and when she woke up she discovered it was late at night. So she leapt out of the tree and began the long walk back to town, to her hotel.

Cerridwen found herself in the middle of a clearing, the moon shining down upon her brightly, illuminating everything around her. She paused a moment, soaking it all in.

She froze.

There was a rustling in the bushes to her right.

She whipped in the direction of the sound and reflexively pulled a long, menacing dagger out of one of her dark brown boots.

"Who's there?" she called, in as menacing of a voice as she could manage.

"Oh, it's not just him you have to worry about, sweetheart," came a voice from the opposite end of the clearing.

She pivoted to see a strange man coming out of the shadows.

As she scanned the perimeter of the clearing, more men stepped out of the trees to face her. Three.

Then five. Then nine.

Twelve.

Cerridwen's heart leapt into her throat. She was absolutely terrified, but fought to mask it.

"I have no quarrel with you lot," she forced past her choking fear, gripping her dagger tighter. "Let me pass."

"Oh, but ye do, lass," came the voice of the man at her five o'clock.

She turned to face him: he was short and stout, with ebony hair and a scruffy face.

"I don't know you," she replied in confusion, her eyes darting between all of them.

He chucked menacingly. "I wouldn't expect ye to remember, after all, we was all just some poor blokes ye and yer little boyfriend stole from back in the day."

Cerridwen arched an eyebrow. "So you're all here to what, exact revenge? We needed to survive, we were _children_."

"You were little monsters, is what you were!" another man in the circle roared, pointing at her accusingly.

"For stealing _food and clothing?_ " she implored, raising her dagger in a defensive manner.

"For stealing _our livelihoods!_ " someone else screamed. "That town wasn't just hard for you street urchins!"

Cerridwen sighed, glancing around the circle again. "I don't want to fight you."

"'Tis a pity, lass," the short man said, beginning to walk toward her, "because, y'see, we _all_ want to fight _you_. It's just a cryin' shame yer little patch o'freshly fallen snow isn't here with ye...guess we'll have to hunt for him after we've put ye in the ground."

Cerridwen brandished the dagger, a fire igniting inside her. She didn't care if they threatened her life. She didn't care if they killed her. But the instant they threatened Kite, they signed their own death warrants.

She let out a dark chuckle, peering at the man walking towards her intimidatingly. "Fine then. You're going to kill me?"

He grinned and nodded.

"Then let me come to you!" she screamed, charging him with the knife.

In the blink of an eye, the man fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his slit throat.

Slowly, Cerridwen turned to face the other men, hoping their confidence would be shaken; she wasn't overly fond of killing.

"You think that's gonna scare us?" one of them asked. "There's still more of us than there is of you."

Cerridwen shifted into a fighting stance, holding her dagger before her once more. She knew the odds were against her. But she also didn't see a way out.

"Well," she began, shrugging slightly before raising her guard again, "I always _did_ tell Kite I'd die without him. Let's get it over with, then."

Smirking, the man drew a blade of his own and headed for her. Suddenly, though, he stopped dead in his tracks.

There was something stuck in the center of his chest.

A playing card.

The others, including Cerridwen, watched in shock as he toppled over dead.

"I... didn't do that," she said slowly, looking around in confusion.

"No, I did... Little Monster."

Cerridwen gasped at the sound of the strangely sultry voice in her ear, jumping a few feet back.

There stood a man her age, clad in an outfit that brought to mind a joker from a deck of cards, with bright crimson hair and dazzling yellow eyes, wielding several playing cards between his fingers like weapons.

"Shall we?" he inquired, arching an eyebrow with a glint in his eye.

Cerridwen arched an eyebrow back at the stranger. Who was he? Why was he helping her? She hoped she'd find out soon.

He smiled down at her, and she nodded firmly in response.

The man took off after one half of the remaining men, dispatching them all at lightning speed. Cerridwen remained stationary, attacking those who came near enough to her; the man with the cards would take out any that proved to be more than she could handle. Within moments, all the attackers fell lifeless on the ground.

Cerridwen wiped the blade of her dagger on her black jeans, clearing the red away to reveal the glimmering steel beneath.

"Thank you," she began earnestly, slipping the dagger back into her boot. "If you hadn't shown up, I'd probably be-"

The man started to run for her, a card in each hand. With no time to pull her dagger back out, she swerved in all directions, moving backward, dodging his arms as he lunged toward her. She blocked his attacks a few times, managing to knock the card out of his left hand. Seconds later, he had her pinned up against the trunk of a large tree.

"...dead," Cerridwen finished with a groan. "I should've known I wasn't that lucky."

The man gave a devilish smirk, pressing the edge of the card firmly against the side of her throat. His eyes regarded her intently, gleaming with glee as the reflections inside her eyes transitioned from annoyance to fear. Slowly, he moved so his lips were brushing against her ear.

"You have _such_ potential," he crooned, his hot breath sending goosebumps down Cerridwen's body. "It would be a pity to cut it short here and now."

Cerridwen exhaled shakily. "What do you want from me?"

"What's your name, Little Monster?" he queried, beginning to kiss her just below her ear.

Her heart raced, threatening to burst out of her chest. At first she thought it was only fear, but... was she actually _enjoying_ this?

 _No_ , she thought, trying to ignore the not-so-unpleasant feeling of having this strange man's body pressed against hers. _This is wrong. I shouldn't feel like this. He isn't Kite_.

"Cerridwen," she whispered, trying her best to sound aggravated. "And I'd appreciate it if you stopped that; I'm in a committed relationship."

"Hmmm?" he replied with a chuckle, removing his lips from her neck and moving to look her in the eyes. "I'm Hisoka... and that's a minor detail, my dear."

Cerridwen glared at him, and he stepped away from her, releasing her from his grasp.

"Well, thank you for the assist, Hisoka," she said, inhaling deeply and trying to regain a friendly attitude. "I should be getting back to my hotel now."

"Let me walk you there," he offered, a strangely kind smile sweeping across his face.

Cerridwen blinked, considering his offer.

"There might be others waiting down the path," he added.

"I honestly doubt it," she argued, beginning to walk away from him. "People like that tend to all attack in one group. Thank you, but I can manage."

Hisoka sighed forlornly. "Well, if you're _sure_. See you soon, Cerridwen."

A tremor shook her frame, whether good or bad she wasn't sure. She turned around to tell him off just on principle.

He was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Hisoka kept showing up in Cerridwen's everyday life for the next week. At the market. At the library. At the diner. At the bar. Always seemingly by chance. At first, Cerridwen had no desire to interact with him; however, as she started talking to him, she began to see him in a different light. He told her of his ambitions of becoming a licensed Hunter, of his desire to fight the most powerful people he could find. She caved one night when he showed up at the bar she was at, and agreed to let him join her for a drink, and as they sat there chatting and sipping what were probably the best cosmos that Cerridwen had ever tasted, she realized something.

She was falling in love with the son of a bitch.

And she felt horrible.

That night, she went back to her hotel room and made a video call to Kite on her laptop, like they did every night since he left to look for Ging. Cerridwen sat cross-legged on her bed, drinking a glass of red wine in her skull-print pajama bottoms and a grey tanktop, her hair wrangled up into a messy bun, staring out the window blankly.

"Carrie?" came Kite's voice gently from the laptop on the bed. "What's bothering you?"

She turned to look at the image of Kite's face before her, his hazel-brown eyes regarding her with concern. He was also sitting cross-legged on his bed, in black pajama bottoms and a sleeveless white undershirt, still wearing his dumb blue hat.

"I'm fine, Snowflake," she replied with a slight smile. "It's nothing."

"Bullshit," he argued, setting his glass of white wine on the nightstand. "Don't you know by now that I can tell when something's wrong? You've been unbelievably quiet for at least five minutes...stoic, to be frank."

Cerridwen sighed. She had to tell him, but she didn't know how to approach it. Sure, she had fallen in love with the crazy clown, but she hadn't fallen _out_ of love with Kite. She was deeply in love with him, and nothing could ever change that. He was her world.

But he had to know about Hisoka.

"Well," she huffed, taking a sip of her wine, "you remember that guy I told you about like a week ago? Hisoka?"

Kite nodded. "Yeah, Bobo the Clown?"

She chucked half-heartedly, setting her wine on the windowsill and fidgeting with her necklace.  
"Well, I kept running into him in town this week, and I ended up talking to him, and it turns out he's not _as_ huge of an ass as I had thought... he's actually not such a bad guy."

Kite scoffed. "Once you get past the fact that he can kill without a second thought and then turn on the person he just saved, sure, sounds like a stellar guy."

"Kite-"

He laughed. "I know, Wildflower, I know. I trust your gut instincts; they've never been wrong."

Cerridwen smiled at the pet name.

"I love you, Kite," she said, her voice dripping with melancholy.

"I love you too, Cerridwen," he replied, furrowing his brow. "Why so sad?"

"I...I just..." she started, fidgeting with her pendant even more, feeling herself on the verge of crying. "...I'm just so _confused_!"

"Woah, hey," Kite began in a calming (albeit, alarmed) tone, reaching a hand out toward the screen as if he could reach out and hold her. "Hey, it's alright. You're alright. You know you can tell me anything."

Cerridwen looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes.

"Anything," Kite repeated, smiling at her tenderly.

Cerridwen swallowed hard. "Well, I ended up running into Hisoka at the bar tonight, and we chatted over drinks, and... I'm falling in love with him."

"...oh," Kite replied quietly, feeling a lump rise up in his throat.

"But," she continued, starting to shake, "the reason I'm confused is because... I'm still in love with you. _Deeply_ in love with you."

Kite relaxed a little, now that he knew she wasn't about to break up with him.

Tears ran down Cerridwen's cheeks. "You're my everything, Kite, and...I don't want to lose you, but...I just can't ignore the way I feel about Hisoka, and...I just don't know what to do!"

Kite sat there and watched her for a moment, letting her cry, wishing he could be there to hold her. He didn't want to lose her either; she was the one constant in his life, the one thing that could always make him smile.

"Carrie... have you ever considered the possibility that you might be polyamorous?"

Cerridwen sniffed, arching an eyebrow. "Polyamorous?"

Kite nodded. "People who are polyamorous are capable of truly being in love with more than one person at once. I've met a few polyamorous people in these last few months, and they've all been incredibly kind, and more than willing to explain the lifestyle to anyone curious about it."

She cocked her head, drying her face with her hand; she was incredibly relieved that he seemed to be working with her on this. "So... are they in separate relationships at the same time, or how does it work?"

"Some do it that way," he answered. "Others have one relationship with multiple people; I know a few successful three-person couples personally. The specifics vary, but as long as everyone involved knows what's going on, and consents to it, it's perfectly moral."

Cerridwen remained silent, still shaking.

Kite sighed. "Relax, Carrie. I still love you. I told you when we started doing this that I'd never leave you unless you wanted me to, remember?"

"Y-yeah."

He smiled softly, placing his hand on his computer screen. "I'm not going to break that promise. I'm only in love with one person: you. But if you're polyamorous, I'll support you in it."

Cerridwen grinned in relief, placing her hand on her screen as well. "Thank you so much," she whispered.

"From what you've told me," Kite continued, smirking, "I'm still not overly fond of Hisoka. But I trust your instincts, and if you can love him, then he can't truly hold any ill intent toward you."

Cerridwen reached for her wine and took a large sip of it, finally calming down; Kite chuckled and did the same.

"I love you, Wildflower," he soothed, pressing his fingertips to his lips before placing them gingerly over the image of hers on the screen.

"I love you too, Snowflake," she responded contently, returning the gesture.

Shortly afterward, they bade each other goodnight and ended the call, both crawling under their covers and falling into an especially comforting sleep.


	7. Deadly Nightshade

"Come on, Leorio!" Cerridwen encouraged, reaching over and patting him on the back of his bare shoulder. "Look, light! We're almost there!"

Gon and Killua had raced ahead of the entire pack ages ago; Cerridwen wouldn't have been surprised if they were the first to cross the finish line. Kurapika was a couple strides ahead of Cerridwen and Leorio, looking back over his shoulder periodically to be sure they were still there. She had completely lost track of Hisoka, she assumed he had crossed the finish line far ahead of them.

Leorio's head snapped up, eyes fixing on the exit.

"I'm gonna make it!" he exclaimed, breaking into a full-on sprint, leaving Cerridwen jogging behind him.

Kurapika and Cerridwen exchanged shocked glances, before laughing and speeding up to catch up to him.

As the three friends made their way into the bright outdoors, Leorio stopped dead in his tracks and put his hands on his knees, panting. Kurapika and Cerridwen glanced from him to each other, concern on their faces, before coming up on either side of Leorio and putting his arms over their shoulders, bracing him and helping him stand. Cerridwen held Leorio's wrist with one hand, while her other arm was wrapped around his waist; Kurapika did the same. Cerridwen felt Leorio's ribcage heaving against her side as he slowly adjusted his breathing to normal.

"Feeling any better?" she asked in amusement.

Leorio instantly regained composure, jumping out of their arms. "I'm perfectly fine! I was the entire time!"

Kurapika chuckled. "Of course you were."

Leorio put his hands on his hips indignantly.

"There you are!" came Gon's voice, as he and Killua spotted and approached the trio.

"Gon, Killua!" Cerridwen called happily, running for the two boys and hugging them both at once. "When did you two finish the phase?"

"We were first," Killua said proudly as Cerridwen let go of him. He was surprised by the hug, but strangely comfortable with it.

"That's right!" Gon exclaimed. "We both crossed the finish line first, right with Satotz!"

Cerridwen, Kurapika, and Leorio all beamed like proud parents.

Suddenly, Cerridwen felt a hand slip onto her shoulder. Seeing the apprehensive looks on Gon and Killua's faces, she knew it could only be one person.

"Hello, Hisoka," she greeted calmly as she stood and turned to face him. "How did Phase One go for you?"

"Oh, it was a breeze," Hisoka answered with a smirk, crossing his arms. "Whatever took you so long?"

"I stayed behind with Leorio and Kurapika," she replied, as the two took a couple steps backward away from Hisoka. "Leorio was curious as to how you and I met, so I hung back to tell them."

A panicked expression swept across Leorio's face as Hisoka turned his head to gaze at him out of the corner of his eye.

"'Curious', eh?" he mused, raising an eyebrow. "You know, _boy_ , there was once a time when I was 'curious' as to how Cerridwen and Kite met."

Leorio jumped back, his face flooding with fear and embarrassment, incoherent stuttering noises coming from his mouth.

" _Hisoka_!" Cerridwen scolded with a hiss. "Come on now, do you _really_ have to make trouble where there is none?"

He chuckled, reaching out and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Speaking of making trouble... that promise I made you only applied to Phase One. Care to join me in Phase Two, Little Monster?"

" _Must_ you still call me that?" Cerridwen groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Frankly, yes," he declared. "It's practically a pet name by now."

She groaned again. "Alright, fine. Go wait for me, I'll meet up with you soon."

Hisoka smirked, leaning forward to plant a surprisingly tender kiss on Cerridwen's lips before turning and walking away.

"I know it's not my place," Kurapika began once Hisoka was out of earshot, "but what exactly do you see in him?"

Suddenly, a commotion erupted. A man showed up, running up to the group of applicants from the swamp in the distance, dragging a body that resembled a large ape with Satotz's face. He accused Satotz of being an imposter, which Satotz calmly declared was a lie. This naturally sparked tension and uncertainty among the applicants, as they all mumbled their suspicions amongst themselves. Cerridwen looked around, observing the clamor, until her eyes came to rest upon Hisoka.

He was slowly raising playing cards in either hand, preparing an attack directed at both the man and Satotz.

Cerridwen started for him, but it was too late.

The cards had struck the man with the monkey dead, while Satotz had caught the cards directed at him, a look of extreme annoyance on his mouthless face.

After informing Hisoka that he would be disqualified if he tried anything like that again, and glaring at Cerridwen for not preventing Hisoka from attacking, he asked the group of applicants to follow him into the swamp. Taking that as her cue, Cerridwen bade farewell to Gon and his friends and wandered off to join Hisoka.

* * *

"Darling," Hisoka began, as they strode almost blindly through the fog-laden swamp, "do you ever get the feeling you're being followed?"

Cerridwen nodded, breathing uneasily. She had been aware of the group of men tailing her and Hisoka for quite a while, and her instincts told her their intentions were less than savory.

"I'll do the dirty work if you give me a little assist," Hisoka bargained, a devious trill in his tone.

Cerridwen stared daggers at him out of the corner of her eye. "Hisoka, you heard what Satotz-"

"-yes, but that only applies to attacking _Examiners_ ," he argued with a wry smile. "These are other applicants, and you know as well as I that they're intending to kill us both."

Cerridwen sighed in defeat as Hisoka took her by the arm and steered her toward a deserted clearing, away from the path Satotz was taking; the group of men behind them followed.

"I suppose you're right. What kind of 'assist' did you have in mind?"

"One of your lovely Song Shields, of course."

"You _do_ know one of the conditions I put on that ability is that I can't use it to cause physical harm to anyone, right?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "And that I haven't been able to train it much on jobs with Kite recently?"

"I'm not asking you to harm them, Little Monster," he whispered as the pair stopped in the middle of the clearing, the men trying to inconspicuously hide in the bushes surrounding them. "I only ask you disorient them somehow. Increase the fog around us, perhaps?"

"I can do that," Cerridwen replied as Hisoka let go of her arm.

Exhaling slowly, she closed her eyes and envisioned fog closing in tighter around them. She envisioned the men who were following them immersed in the fog, confused, trying to find their way to the center of the clearing. Once the vision was clear as day in her mind, she gradually opened her eyes and began to sing.

 _My, my said the beggar man  
What you give what you take are two different things  
Eat up what you've got  
Evil winds that drag your bones to rot  
Evil winds that'll set, set me free_

 _Suicide of the first division  
Found dead with a noose wrapped around your head  
No one cared to raise an eye  
Don't it make you wanna scream, scream till they cry  
Evil winds that'll set, set me free_

 _Please brother can you spare me a dime  
To buy some bread and a bottle of wine  
I'll never ask for anything again  
Just help me, help me to survive_

As she sang, the fog did indeed increase, surrounding them like a cocoon. Only a three-yard radius of clear air was left around them.

"Splendid, Cerridwen," Hisoka cooed, moving so that they were standing back-to-back. "Now we wait."

"Mm-hm," Cerridwen mumbled, reaching down into her boot and unsheathing her trusty dagger. She knew she wouldn't need it with Hisoka there, but she felt much safer wielding it.

After a few minutes, the fog began to thin marginally. Hisoka furrowed his brow nudging Cerridwen with his elbow.

"Don't these usually last longer?" he probed.

"I told you I was out of practice," she snapped, kicking the back of his calf with her heel. "I can't help it."

The silhouettes of the men moved closer, following the sounds of Hisoka and Cerridwen's bickering voices. Cerridwen raised her dagger before her nervously. From behind her, she heard a quiet flicking noise as Hisoka readied his cards.

"Bring it," Hisoka whispered, as the men came completely into the open.

The men were doing their level best to look intimidating, surrounding the pair in a uniform circle. One of them, a tall man with dark hair, turned to Cerridwen and addressed her with a stony expression.

"We'll only give you this one chance," he said, his tone deathly even. "Leave now, and we'll spare you. We only want him; you would be collateral damage."

Hisoka gave out a dark chuckle, bordering alarmingly close to a moan. "Oh, you are _stupid_...how thrilling."

Cerridwen met the man's gaze with a defiant glare. "I stand with Hisoka."

He shrugged. "Your funeral."

She smirked. "No. Yours."

"Let's have a little Exam of our own, shall we?" Hisoka proposed in a devious tone, his gaze making its way around the circle. "You play the applicants, I'll play Examiner."

The men reached for their weapons.

Hisoka turned his head so his mouth was next to Cerridwen's ear.

"Now," he breathed.

Within an instant, Cerridwen dropped to a crouch, and Hisoka pivoted in a complete circle, arm extended. The attackers all toppled lifeless to the ground.

"And what of you two boys?" Hisoka queried into the trees, much to Cerridwen's confusion. "Care to participate in my little game of Examiner?"

Cerridwen followed his gaze to see two young men standing there, paralyzed with fear.

Kurapika and Leorio.

"Hisoka," she began, shifting her position slightly and putting her dagger back into her boot. "Don't."

Hisoka only chuckled, beginning to take a few steps closer to the boys.

"NOW!" Kurapika shouted, and he and Leorio darted off in opposite directions, further into the swamp.

"Oh," Hisoka whined, turning to face Cerridwen. "How disappointing. I thought your beanpole would have more fire than that."

" _My_ beanpole?" Cerridwen repeated, rising to her feet. "Please, Hisoka. You've never been the jealous type. Stop making up crazy scenarios to have an excuse to attack people."

"Speaking of bloodlust," Hisoka said, walking up to Cerridwen and lifting her chin to face him, "mine still hasn't been completely quelled."

Cerridwen's pulse began to race as she stared into Hisoka's saffron eyes, that familiar hunger residing within them.

"You should come with a warning label," she mused, wrapping an arm around his waist to pull herself closer to him.

"Oh really?" he purred, wrapping his other arm around her and making it so that there was no space left between them. "And what would it say, I wonder?"

Glancing downward, she gave a wry smile before meeting his gaze again and replying, "'Gets turned on by danger'."

Hisoka pulled her even tighter to him in response, moving his other hand up to her throat and squeezing it ever so gently. He leaned forward so that he could nibble on her earlobe, and began to grind his hips against hers.

Cerridwen gasped, her entire body melting in his hands. She was almost ashamed to admit how much she enjoyed the sensation. A weak moan escaped her lips as Hisoka's mouth abandoned her ear and began to kiss down her neck.

"It seems to me you should have that label, too," he muttered, releasing his grip on her throat and tracing her jawline with the tip of his nail, making goosebumps rise all over her body.

" _Hisoka_ ," she breathed, clutching at the back of his shirt. She wanted to tell him that it wasn't the time, that it wasn't the place, that they had an Exam to finish because she'd be damned if she had to come babysit him a _third_ year in a row...but the only word she was capable of forming was his name.

Hisoka froze abruptly, straightening his posture to look out toward the trees again. Somewhat bewildered, and slightly disappointed, Cerridwen let go of his shirt and carefully removed herself from his embrace. She followed his gaze to the treeline, and what she found there came as entirely unexpected.

There, walking toward them slowly through the fog, was Leorio. As he approached, Cerridwen saw that he carried a large stick in one hand.

 _Leorio, you idiot_ , she thought, breaking into a cold sweat. _What the hell do you think you're doing? Didn't you see what happened to those other men?_

"I know this isn't my fight," Leorio began, his voice low and serious, "but I also can't just close my eyes and make a break for it."

"Hmmm?" Hisoka inquired with a lilt, putting his cards away. "How noble of you. Incredibly foolish, but noble."

"Leorio," Cerridwen warned, raising a hand cautiously, "please, walk away. There's no need to avenge those men; they were going to kill us both."

Leorio stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes flashing in Cerridwen's direction; she found it hard to believe that those warm, caring eyes that she first looked into barely two days before were the same eyes that she looked into now, determined and calculating.

"They gave you the option to leave, Cerridwen," Leorio said, his grip on the stick tightening a bit, "but you turned it down. Turned it down for what? To protect Hisoka? It's clear he didn't need your help. Those men never even posed a threat to either of you."

"It's true," she conceded, crossing her arms, "Hisoka didn't need my help. He rarely does. But I wasn't about to stand down."

"It's the principle of the matter, you see," Hisoka chimed in with a graceful wave of his arm. "Like you, Cerridwen has a tendency to be too noble for her own good, in her own way. Unlike you, she isn't a foolish brat."

"Stand aside, Cerridwen," Leorio requested calmly. "I don't want to hurt you."

Cerridwen was about to object, when Hisoka turned to her and said, "It's fine, Little Monster...I can teach this boy a lesson without you needing to be involved."

With that, Leorio charged him with an angry shout. Cerridwen bolted to the side, grabbing a low-hanging tree branch and vaulting herself up onto it, turning to crouch and observe from a safe distance.

Leorio swung the stick at Hisoka violently.

Hisoka only vanished in a puff of smoke.

Leorio stopped dead in his tracks, dropping his guard. Hisoka appeared behind him, drawing his hand back to ready his swordlike nails to strike.

Cerridwen lost her balance for a moment, panic making her unsteady. She had seen Hisoka use that technique before... and he only used it to kill.

"LEORIO!" Cerridwen screamed, her heart pounding with fear. "BEHIND YOU!"

Leorio pivoted, his eyes wide. Just then, however, something collided with Hisoka's cheek, landing a solid hit on him.

A small, red fishing lure.

Reaching a hand up to touch his cheek, Hisoka turned to see the culprit, looking both shocked and impressed.

Standing there, fishing pole in hand, was Gon.

"Not bad, _little boy_ ," Hisoka commented, regaining composure.

Leorio's entire body tensed, and Cerridwen felt her heart drop.

"Get out of here, Gon," she hissed. "I promised I'd keep you safe."

"Is that...a fishing rod?" Hisoka inquired, beginning to walk toward Gon. "What a peculiar weapon. Allow me a closer look."

Gon stood his ground, gripping his fishing rod tighter.

Leorio and Cerridwen exchanged incredibly troubled glances, before Leorio raised his stick once more.

Cerridwen groaned. _Fuck me, this isn't gonna end well._

"Your fight," Leorio began, before raising the stick and starting to rush down Hisoka, "is with me!"

Not tearing his eyes from Gon for an instant, Hisoka nonchalantly raised his fist and landed a strong punch on Leorio's face, knocking him to the ground. Cerridwen leapt out of the tree, running over to Leorio's unconscious form to make sure he was alright. He had a massive bump on his cheek, but other than that he seemed to be okay. She cradled his head in her lap, trying to support his neck.

Gon charged Hisoka, striking at him repeatedly with his fishing pole. Hisoka merely turned to smoke with every hit, reappearing just a few inches away every time. In the confusion, Hisoka somehow managed to get a grasp on Gon's throat, lifting him high off the ground, choking him.

"HISOKA!" Cerridwen screamed. "Don't you _dare_!"

Hisoka ignored her, instead staring intently into Gon's eyes. They radiated defiance, struggling to mask his terror.

"Oh, I do love that look," Hisoka mused, squeezing Gon's throat tighter.

"Hisoka," Cerridwen growled, clenching her fists, "don't make me hurt you."

Hisoka chuckled, releasing Gon and letting him fall to the ground. Gon landed on his knees and gasped for air, clutching at his throat.

"I won't kill you," Hisoka said to Gon, crouching down before him. "Not because of Cerridwen, but because you passed my test," he finished with an oddly sweet smile.

Gon's eyes widened in shock, while Cerridwen's narrowed in bewilderment.

Hisoka glanced back over his shoulder to where Cerridwen held Leorio, before turning back to Gon and saying, "I won't harm your friend, either; he passed, too."

Suddenly, a walkie-talkie in Hisoka's pocket went off. He pulled it out, and a garbled voice that was oddly familiar to Cerridwen came forth.

" _Hisoka, we're almost to the Phase Two site. You had better get back here_."

Cerridwen cocked her head. It almost sounded like an assassin she had once met through Hisoka... someone who made her feel _very_ uneasy...but it was too distorted to tell.

Hisoka rose, striding over to Cerridwen and picking Leorio up, unceremoniously flinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Looking back at Gon, he said, "Go now. Find your friends. Grow up and become a fine Hunter."

Gon looked at Cerridwen for a moment, completely shocked. She mirrored the expression, before standing up and walking away in the fog alongside Hisoka.

* * *

"So, are you gonna tell me what all _that_ was about?" Cerridwen probed as she and Hisoka made their way back to the main path through the swamp.

Hisoka smirked, shifting Leorio's weight on his shoulder slightly.

"They needed to be taught a valuable lesson, and who better to oblige than me?" he explained.

Cerridwen glared at him. "You could have killed them."

He grinned. "But I didn't."

"Also, the walkie-talkie? Was...was that Illumi?"

Cerridwen shuddered after asking the question; saying his name always left a bad taste in her mouth... something that reminded her of halitosis and Jeffrey Dahmer.

"Hmmm? So you were able to recognize his voice? Impressive, considering his current state."

She arched a violet eyebrow. "'Current state'?"

Hisoka gave a quick nod. "He's altered his appearance with poison darts for the Exam. You might have noticed a purple man with blue hair jitterring around?"

Cerridwen gasped. "Gittarackur?"

Hisoka chuckled. "Mm-hm."

"And what did he mean, 'Phase Two site'? This was still Phase One?"

"It would appear so, Little Monster."

She groaned. " _Please_ stop calling me that, Bobo the Clown."

As they walked, the fog had been gradually disappearing; they now found themselves on a rather pleasant dirt path, lined by towering trees. Up ahead, they could just barely make out some of the other applicants.

Hisoka reached over and carefully took hold of Cerridwen's hand. She toyed with the idea of pulling it away, making it clear that she was still mad at him, but instead she relented, letting her fingers interlace with his.

"Whatever you desire... _Belladonna_."

Cerridwen smirked, a slight tinge of pink flushing her cheeks.

"Okay...that one I could get used to."


	8. Storms and Strangers

"Cerridwen!" came Kurapika's voice as he, Gon, and Killua approached her. "Gon told me what happened. Are you two alright?"

Cerridwen was crouched on the ground alongside Leorio, who was propped up against the trunk of a tree, still unconscious. She had a hand resting on the bump on his face, quietly singing some song about ice. Hearing Kurapika's voice, she stopped abruptly and turned to face the boys.

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied, as Gon hugged her worriedly. "Leorio's a little dinged-up, but other than that I think he's alright."

"That's good to hear," Kurapika commented, kneeling down and opening Leorio's briefcase. Handing her Leorio's button-up, he added, "Here, put his shirt on him while I see if there's anything in here for his face."

Cerridwen did so, leaning Leorio forward against her shoulder as she pulled the shirt up his arms. She then leaned him back against the tree and began to nimbly button up the front. She stopped two buttons from the top to reach into his shirt and remove the badge from his chest.

As soon as her fingers brushed against his skin, Leorio's eyes snapped open.

"GYAAAHHHH!" he shouted, flailing his arms and trying to jump backward but failing miserably. "Cerridwen, what the HELL?"

Cerridwen drew her hand back rapidly, holding it up before her to reveal the badge with the number "403" in bold writing.

"Relax, Leorio," she reassured, smirking. "Just taking off your badge so I can put it on your shirt. That's all."

"Oh," Leorio answered quietly, blinking a couple times. "In that case, okay."

Cerridwen giggled and affixed the badge to his shirt, while Kurapika reached over and attempted to bandage Leorio's face.

"Urrrrgh... what happened to my face?" Leorio asked. "And where are my glasses?"

"Oh, here," Cerridwen replied, reaching into her vest and pulling them out. Handing them to him, she added, "They fell on the ground."

Gon was incredulous. "Wait... you mean you don't remember what happened in the swamp?"

Leorio shook his head.

"It's best that way," Kurapika said sharply before Gon could launch into a recap.

"Eh?" Leorio inquired, arching an eyebrow.

"Kurapika's right," Cerridwen concurred, standing up and helping Leorio to his feet. "It was nothing too monumental anyway."

"Oh, well if you say so."

"Hey, guys," Killua chimed in, pointing toward the large gate in the towering stone wall they stood by. "It looks like the gate is starting to open; I guess Phase Two is about to start."

"Well then," Cerridwen said, turning to face the gate, "I suppose we should be on our way."

* * *

"Psh, I can't believe the challenge is _cooking_ ," Leorio scoffed, hoisting the giant pig he had just retrieved onto the spit at his work station. "As long as we don't burn the meat, we should be fine!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Cerridwen disagreed from her spot a few stations away, chopping up a few cloves of garlic and adding them to a sizable bowl of freshly-squeezed orange juice and pulp. "Gourmet Hunters can be a picky bunch."

"They wouldn't make the challenge too difficult, would they?" Gon inquired, rotating his pig on its spit.

Cerridwen looked up at the Phase Two Examiners briefly: Buhara, a portly man of looming stature, and Menchi, a curvaceous woman with a self-righteous air and bright blue hair in several pigtails.

"Buhara is happy with just about anything," she said, grabbing a bunch of thyme and rosemary from below her station and beginning to chop it. "It's Menchi you have to worry about. She's incredibly picky with her food...and she seems to have been on edge since the phase began."

"If she's so picky, wouldn't it be better to stick to simple recipes?" Gon asked.

"Yeah, aren't you taking a huge risk with that weird orange and garlic mess?" Leorio added, hands on his hips.

"I'm sure she knows what she's doing," Kurapika commented from his station, roasting his pig diligently. "It's certainly going to take some time for these pigs to cook, so I'm sure that she'll be able to try something different later if she so chooses."

"Yeah, this gonna take a while," Killua lamented. Turning to Cerridwen, he suggested, "Hey, Cerridwen, how about a story to pass the time?"

She paused mid-chop. "A story?"

Gon nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I liked your story about how you met Hisoka. You should tell us another."

"Maybe not about Hisoka though," Kurapika commented. "Something gives me a feeling most of those are intended more for mature audiences."

Cerridwen giggled. "You're not exactly wrong."

"Tell us about how you met Kite," Leorio suggested. "You mention him all the time; I'm sure I'm not the only one of us who'd want to hear more."

Cerridwen seemed apprehensive, setting her knife down. "We...didn't meet under the best of circumstances."

He groaned. " _Come on_ , it can't be any worse than Hisoka trying to _kill_ you!"

She smirked half-heartedly, starting to chop the herbs again. "Kite saved me, when we were very young, from a situation that no child should be in. The beginning of the story isn't exactly the most joyous thing to hear."

"We don't mind," Gon chimed in, grinning. "After all, you were saved from it, right?"

"Yeah," Killua agreed, stretching. "And honestly, I'm sure I've heard worse."

"I'm very familiar with pain," Kurapika said, "so hearing that of another won't damage me."

Leorio smiled at her gently. "Please, Cerridwen. We all want to know."

She sighed in defeat, emptying the contents of her cutting board into the bowl. "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

Four-year-old Cerridwen ran for her life down a winding, grimy alleyway, her bare feet splashing in the puddles as she ran. She had just watched both her parents be stabbed to death before her eyes, and she just narrowly managed to escape. The attackers, a group of about four huge men, had tried to restrain her by grabbing onto her clothes, but she merely either slipped out of them or tore them, caring about nothing other than her own safety. She had been running from them for what felt like hours, clad in only the tattered remains of her dusty green dress, ducking into alley after alley, trying to shake them.

Rounding a corner, she found a large pile of cardboard boxes against the side of a building, breaking down in the rain. Tired of running and gasping for breath, she darted around to the side by the wall and crawled into one, huddling up near the back.

Shortly afterward, she heard the men run down the alley, past her hiding spot. She waited in tense silence, her heart pounding against her ribcage, almost certain they'd come back.

Hours passed, and they didn't return.

Finally able to relax, she started to sob. With her parents dead, she had nothing. No family, no home, no hope. She dabbed at her eyes with the torn neckline of her dress, looking down at it and finally realizing just how badly it was damaged: more holes and tears than fabric, splattered with bloody handprints from the attackers. Her parents' blood. She just wanted to tear the dress off, to destroy whatever was left of it, but she knew she needed some protection from the cold, rainy autumn weather.

Suddenly, she heard a whimper.

She looked up to see a small white dog at the opening of the box, looking at her with empathetic brown eyes. She blinked and sniffed, unsure what to do. After a moment, the dog crawled into the box with her, curling itself up against her.

Cerridwen smiled slightly, despite her tears, at the feeling of the dog's damp fur against her. Though rainwater was beginning to seep through the top of the box, the warmth radiating from the dog's body brought her some sort of vague comfort.

After a while, a lone pair of footsteps came splashing through the alley.

Cerridwen tensed.

The dog lifted its head and barked, before running out of the box. It continued to bark excitedly, most likely approaching the person in the alley.

Cerridwen huddled up into a tight ball, her heart leaping into her throat as she heard the footsteps making their way around to the front of her box, the dog leading them. She shut her eyes tight, afraid of what was going to come next.

"Are you alright?"

Confused, Cerridwen slowly opened her eyes.

Crouched down in front of the entrance of the box was a boy of about eight, with long white hair and hazel-brown eyes. He wore a dark blue coat over a white turtleneck and black pants, and a blue hat upon his head.

"My name's Kite," he said quietly, sensing her fear. Seeing the blood on what was left of her dress, he inquired, "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head quickly, long strands of purple hair flicking water as she did so.

"Do you have anywhere to go?"

She shook her head, starting to cry again.

"Here," he said, taking off his coat and holding it out to her. "Wear this. You must be freezing."

Apprehensively, she reached out and grabbed hold of the coat, shuffling around awkwardly in the box as she put it on.

Kite leaned further into the box and held his hand out to her. Smiling gently, he said, "Come with me. I don't have much, but I can give you a place to sleep...and probably some clothes, too."

Cerridwen didn't know why, but something about the boy's very presence began to calm her. Slowly, she reached out and took hold of his hand. He helped her out of the box, and fastened the button at the collar of the coat to try to keep her warmer.

Cerridwen flinched at the feeling of raindrops directly hitting her head again. Smirking, Kite took off his hat and slid it snugly onto her head.

Taking hold of her hand again, Kite said, "Come on, this way, it isn't far."

With that, they headed down the alley, the small white dog prancing after them.

* * *

"It's not much," Kite began, leading Cerridwen to a chamber at the end of a series of sewer tunnels, "but it's good enough for me."

Cerridwen paused, taking off Kite's hat and handing it back to him before taking a moment to look around. The otherwise dark tunnel was lit by a few makeshift torches that Kite had obviously affixed to the walls himself. There were a few other dogs and cats wandering about, most of which wore bandages of some sort; she could only assume Kite had rescued them. Near the back of the room, Kite crouched down to light a small campfire in front of a decent sized pile of straw, which she guessed was the bed.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said, gesturing toward the straw. "The hay is about the warmest thing you can sit on down here."

She nodded slightly, walking over to it and sitting cross-legged on the edge, near the fire. It was a little scratchy, but definitely nicer than a soggy cardboard box or the cold stone of the tunnel.

Still stoking the fire, Kite turned to her and said, "I have to leave for a few minutes, but you'll be safe here." Seeing a distinct flash of fear in her eyes, he added, "Don't worry. If anyone other than me tries to get in, the animals will chase them off."

She looked down sheepishly.

Cautiously, Kite leaned over and tenderly placed a hand on the side of her face. Slowly, she lifted her green eyes to meet his.

"No matter what, I promise to keep you safe," he said. "I don't know what happened to you, but I know what it's like to be scared and alone. I'm here for you."

Cerridwen felt her heart skip a beat, letting out a small gasp; she could tell he earnestly meant every word he said.

He smiled, rising to his feet. "Keep the coat until I get back; I won't be long."

With that, he turned and made his way out of the sewers, leaving a slightly comforted Cerridwen waiting for him.

* * *

True to his word, Kite returned not long after, bearing several items of clothing (in various sizes, but all vaguely close to Cerridwen's size), a pair of boots, a loaf of bread, and a chain of about four sausage links. Cerridwen gladly changed into the clothes, tossing her torn up dress to the side. Kite sat down next to her on the straw, and they shared the bread and sausages, then merely sat there watching the fire quietly.

Kite turned to look at the young girl next to him, huddled under a baggy black coat, violet hair cascading over her shoulders. He wanted to help her, to protect her, but he knew nothing about her.

"What's your name?"

"C-Cerridwen," she stuttered, realizing it was the first time she had spoken to him.

"Cerridwen," he repeated, smirking. "That's a really pretty name."

She blushed slightly, turning to look at him. "Thank you. Your name is pretty cool, too."

"Thanks."

After a few moments of silence, he inquired, "So what happened to you, Cerridwen?"

Her frame tensed. She wasn't eager to relive the events of that morning, but he deserved to know.  
"I was walking with my parents to the market, and dad decided we should take a shortcut through an alley, and..."

She trailed off, tears starting to brim in her eyes. "And...and these four men showed up out of nowhere, and they had knives, and-"

She started shaking.

"Hey, it's alright," Kite began soothingly, reaching out and placing a hand on the side of her arm. "You're alright. You don't have to finish. I can figure out the rest."

Cerridwen let out a shattered breath, turning her gaze to one of the torches on the wall. Kite watched the reflections of orange dance within her emerald eyes as she tried to bury her pain. As her eyes scanned the wall, they fell on something hanging near a torch.

"What's that?" she queried, happy to change the subject.

Kite followed her gaze to see a pewter pendant: a round, bluish-purple glass stone, flanked by two mirrored crescent moons, hanging from a silver chain looped over a nail wedged into the wall.

"An old peddler lady gave it to me a couple years ago," he answered, drawing his hand back from her arm. "She told me it was called a 'triple goddess'. It's a pagan symbol that represents the goddess as maiden, mother, and crone. She gave it to me because she saw that I was on my own, so she said this way I would have all three forms of this goddess lady watching over me."

Cerridwen gave a weak smile. "That was sweet of her."

After a moment, Kite got up and strode over to the wall. Removing the pendant from the nail, he walked back to the straw and sat back down.

"Here," he said, reaching over and fastening the delicate silver chain around Cerridwen's neck. "She can watch over you now."

Slowly, Cerridwen reached up to touch the pendant. Her heart both fluttered and wrenched at the same time.

"It..." she sniffed, fighting back tears, "...it was my parents. Those men...they killed my parents!"

She broke down sobbing, burying her face in her hands. Kite froze for a moment, unsure what to do, before moving closer and wrapping his arms around her tightly. She trembled violently with each breath she took. Kite's eyes fell upon the fragments of her blood-stained dress behind her, and he involuntarily let out a gasp of grim realization.

"Burn it," she whimpered, choking on tears.

Kite said nothing.

"I know what you're looking at," she muttered, burying her face in his shoulder. "Please, just burn it. I can't look at it again."

Kite's expression turned to stone. "Don't turn around until I say," he whispered, letting go of her and retrieving the dress. He walked it over to the fire and inspected it for a moment, taking in the careful hand-stitching, the merciless rips, the brutal stains. His heart sank, thinking about what she must have seen...but it also ignited. His very soul was set ablaze with a fierce desire to protect her, no matter what, for as long as she wanted to stay with him. Exhaling slowly, he dropped the fabric into the flames, watching intently until it was completely consumed by them.

"It's gone," he declared, sitting back down next to Cerridwen. "It's done."

"Thank you," she managed, tears still streaming from her red-rimmed eyes.

Kite drew her to him again, wrapping one arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder, turning to look at the fire.

"You should get some sleep," he said quietly. "It won't make the pain go away completely, but it might help you feel a little better."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," she mumbled forlornly.

Kite nodded knowingly. "Do...do you like singing?"

She forced a chuckle. "I don't feel like singing."

Kite smirked. "No, I meant being sung to. Like, lullabies and stuff."

"I guess."

"Lie down," he said. "I think I can help."

Cerridwen obliged, laying down on the hay and resting her head on his lap. Kite reached down and absent-mindedly tucked her bangs behind her ear. Most of the lullabies he knew were borderline somber, but he had heard a group of drunk Irishmen singing a folk song a week or so prior that he knew he could work with.

"Thank you, Kite," Cerridwen whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek. "For everything."

Kite's heart warmed as his eyes met hers, seeing the genuine gratitude on her tear-streaked face, the gentle smile on her chapped pink lips. Looking back at the fire, he started to sing, slowing the melody down to a soothing pace.

 _If I were the king of Ireland  
And all things at my will  
I'd roam through all creation  
New comforts to find still  
And the comfort I would seek the most  
As you might understand_ _  
Is to win the heart of Martha  
The flower of sweet Strabane_

 _Her cheeks they are a rosy red  
Her hair a lovely brown  
And o'er her milk-white shoulders  
It carelessly hangs down  
She's one of the fairest creatures_ _  
In the whole of Ireland  
And my heart, it's captivated by_ _  
The flower of sweet Strabane_

 _If I had you, lovely Martha_ _  
Away in Inishowen  
Or in some lonesome valley_ _  
In the wildwoods of Tyrone_ _  
I would use my whole endeavor  
To try to work my plan  
For to gain the prize and feast my eyes  
On the flower of sweet Strabane_

 _But I'll go o'er the Lagan  
Down by the steamships tall  
I'm sailing for Ameri-cay  
Whatever may befall  
My boat is bound for Liverpool  
Right by the Isle of Man  
So I'll say farewell, God bless you  
My flower of sweet Strabane_


	9. Dancing in the Dark

"...woah," Killua began quietly as Cerridwen finished her recollection, blinking a few times. "That really _was_ horrible."

"I'm sorry, Cerridwen," Gon said, gently taking hold of her hand. His face suddenly brightening, he added, "But, even though you lost your parents, you gained Kite! So it wasn't _all_ bad."

Cerridwen let out a weak giggle.

"I know what it's like to lose family, Cerridwen," Kurapika consoled. "I'm truly sorry you had to go through that."

"Thank you," she answered with a smile, "but it honestly probably would have happened sooner or later; we lived in a really sketchy neighborhood."

Leorio regarded Cerridwen for a moment, his tawny eyes somber. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was, to let her know she wasn't alone in her pain, but he didn't know how. Wordlessly, he walked up to her and drew her tightly to him.

Cerridwen let out a small gasp, slightly taken aback at first, before relaxing into his embrace and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to simply appreciate the feeling of his surprisingly strong arms around her, the steadiness of his heartbeat, the scent of cologne radiating from his clothes.

"Is...is that English Leather?" Cerridwen inquired, arching an eyebrow.

Leorio's face turned a bright red, and his eyes snapped open. Letting go of her and jumping backward, he rubbed the back of his neck and replied, "Uh, yeah...yeah, it is. I'm, uh, surprised you noticed."

"It suits you," she commented, with a sweet smile.

Leorio's face flushed again; Gon and Kurapika chuckled loudly.

"Dirty old man," Killua mumbled, smirking.

The five friends had just finished plating their dishes; Gon, Killua, and Leorio had all gone with regular roasted pigs, while Kurapika layered his pork with pineapple and cherries, and Cerridwen marinated pieces of hers in her orange-and-herb mixture and cooked them.

"And now, we wait," Leorio said, thankful for the distraction as the first applicant brought their dish up to Menchi and Buhara.

* * *

"This is total _bullshit_!" Leorio roared, pulling his hair. "She can't fail _all_ of us...can she?"

"Well, she _is_ the Examiner," Kurapika said. "But that doesn't make it right."

All the other applicants were in an uproar, refusing to accept Menchi's unjust ruling. Some were even openly threatening to fight her.

"How am I gonna become a Hunter now?" Gon asked forlornly, looking at the ground.

"Don't worry, Gon," Cerridwen comforted, a strong protective tone in her voice. Placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling him to her, she added, "Leorio's right; this is fucking bullshit."

Killua's mouth gaped. "Cerridwen?"

Kurapika crossed his arms, clearly displeased with Cerridwen's choice of words around the younger boys, while Leorio fought back a grin.

"Sorry, but there's no better way to phrase it," she explained. "There's no way she'll get away with this."

"Uhh...Cerridwen..." Gon called nervously.

She followed his gaze until her eyes fell upon none other than Hisoka, discretely preparing a card attack.

"Good eye, Gon," she said quickly, letting go of his shoulder and heading for Hisoka, expertly weaving through the horde of angry applicants until she came up behind him. Without hesitation, her hand shot out and firmly grasped the back of his neck.

Hisoka froze; startled, at first, but upon recognizing the feeling of Cerridwen's hand, a devious smirk crept across his lips.

"Don't fucking do it, Bobo," she growled, digging her nails into the sides of his neck.

"You know, I secretly enjoy it when you call me that," he mused, putting the cards away. "Also, for future reference, grab my throat from the front next time and you won't have to threaten me."

Resisting the urge to smile, Cerridwen debated, "Because _that_ would make you give up on an attack easier? Please."

"Well, it would provide me with a different outlet for my energy," he clarified.

She furrowed her brow. "Explain."

Effortlessly, Hisoka reached backward and knocked Cerridwen's arm to the side, making her grip on his neck loosen. He spun around to face her, grabbed hold of her, and dipped her backward, maneuvering his throat into her still-raised hand. Reflexively, Cerridwen's grip tightened around it. Hisoka shuddered, gazing at her with heavy-lidded eyes.

"I would have you right here, on the countertop, until we both passed out from sheer ecstasy," he purred in a low voice.

Cerridwen could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

Wait, no.

The noise was far too loud to be her heart.

Hisoka's saffron eyes strayed from her face to look up at the sky. Cerridwen let go of his throat as the two stood upright and broke apart, and looked upward as well.

It was an airship. The Hunter Association airship, to be exact.

Hisoka tapped Cerridwen's shoulder, and she slowly brought her attention back to him.

"Go back to your rookies," he said, his voice barely audible over the airship. " _If_ they're here because of me, there's no point in you getting reprimanded for my actions."

Cerridwen blinked in disbelief. Even if he rarely said it, on some level, she knew Hisoka loved her, but she never knew him to be this noble.

"Go!" he repeated, shoving her slightly.

Hesitantly, she complied, turning away and running off toward her rather perplexed-looking friends. Once she reached them, she turned her attention back to the action.

An elderly man had descended from the airship, and was regarding Menchi and Buhara disapprovingly. He had a long, white beard, and an even longer white ponytail. He wore a white robe with pale blue trim, and wooden sandals.

"Hey, who's the old guy?" Leorio queried in a hushed tone.

"Says the old guy," Killua mumbled.

"Hey!" Leorio snapped, glaring at the boy. "I'm not that old!"

"Leorio, shut up," Cerridwen hissed, lightly slapping his arm. "That's Chairman Netero."

"Why is the Chairman here?" Gon asked, tilting his head.

"Probably to do something about Menchi," Kurapika theorized.

"Let's hope," Cerridwen commented, watching Netero warily. She was on excellent terms with the Chairman, but she was still concerned with the results of Phase Two. Exhaling slowly, she decided to trust in Netero's decision, no matter what it was.

* * *

As it turned out, Netero allowed Menchi to redo the phase, with a different challenge for the applicants to undergo. She decided to take advantage of the presence of the airship, and had the applicants taken to Mount Split-in-Half, to retrieve the eggs of the spider eagle. Given the fact that they were suspended in webs in the split in the mountain, this was a task much easier said than done. However, Gon managed to time the updrafts in the crevice, and following his lead, most of the applicants passed Phase Two.

The remaining applicants now found themselves flying aboard the Hunter Association airship, headed to the Phase Three site. Tonpa, of course, did his level best to shake the rookies' confidence by saying that Phase Three could, in fact, take place upon the airship that very night. Gon and Killua paid no heed to this, but opted to stay up and explore anyway. Despite the fact that Kurapika and Leorio claimed to not take Tonpa's words seriously, Cerridwen had a feeling that they were more nervous than they were letting on.

So, she went to check on them. Slowly, she crept into the room where most of the applicants were sleeping.

There, in the far back of the room, sat Leorio and Kurapika, looking far from drowsy, surrounded by hordes of snoring forms.

"You boys look like you drank too much coffee," Cerridwen chuckled, carefully navigating around the bodies scattered across the floor.

"Cerridwen," Kurapika greeted as she reached them, "why aren't you trying to sleep?"

"I'm used to going days without sleep," she responded, shimmying her way into a small sitting space between her two friends. "Ging made that part of Kite's and my training. It's definitely paid off when we go out on long-term jobs."

"Sounds pretty damn unhealthy," Leorio muttered, burying himself deeper in his blanket.

"You two let Tonpa get to you," Cerridwen observed with a sad sigh. "I told you not to pay attention to his bullshit."

Kurapika smirked. "We tried. He just seems to have a way of getting into Leorio's head."

" _My_ head?" Leorio snapped, spinning to face him. "Oh, yeah, because this is clearly all on me! You're wide awake too Kurapika!"

Cerridwen cringed, placing a hand on Leorio's thigh. He froze, looking down at her hand.

"Calm down, you'll wake everyone up," she hissed. "Luckily for the two of you, I can help you get to sleep."

Kurapika smirked at Leorio, who had turned a few different shades of pink, before looking at Cerridwen and saying, "Thank you, but I'm sure Leorio has melatonin in his briefcase."

She chuckled. "Wouldn't you rather not take a pill? I can just sing you two to sleep."

Finally snapping out of it, Leorio scoffed. "Please Cerridwen, I think we're a little old for lullabies."

"Humor me. What have you got to lose?"

Kurapika nodded in concession.

"Oh, alright then," Leorio groaned, crossing his arms and leaning backward. "But it won't work."

Cerridwen smirked. "Yes it will. And just to keep your feeble pride intact, I won't _technically_ use a lullaby."

Leorio glared at her out of the corner of his eye.

She exhaled slowly, taking hold of both of their hands.

 _Try not to get worried  
Try not to turn on to  
Problems that upset you, oh  
Don't you know everything's alright  
Yes, everything's fine  
And we want you to sleep well tonight  
Let the world turn without you tonight  
If we try, we'll get by  
So forget all about us tonight_

 _Sleep and I shall soothe you  
Calm you and anoint you  
Myrrh for your hot forehead, oh  
Then you'll feel everything's alright_ _  
Yes, everything's fine  
And it's cool and the ointment's sweet  
For the fire in your head and feet_ _  
Close your eyes, close your eyes_ _  
And relax, think of nothing tonight_

When she stopped singing, Leorio and Kurapika were both leaning against her, fast asleep. Chuckling, she carefully slipped out from between them and made her way out of the room.

* * *

"Belladonna?"

Cerridwen jumped, losing her balance and nearly falling off the windowsill she had been sitting on. Regaining composure, she turned in the direction of the voice to see Hisoka smiling gently at her.

"Hey there, handsome," she replied as if nothing had happened. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I could say the same thing to you," Hisoka mused, walking over and leaning against the windowsill next to her. His brow furrowing slightly in concern, he queried, "What's got you worried?"

"Nothing, really," she answered quietly, glancing down the hallway to her right. Hisoka followed her gaze to see Gon and Killua staring out a window at the far end, chatting happily.

Hisoka let out a small chuckle. "They'll be fine, Cerridwen. They can go one night without your protection; they've gone most of their lives without it."

"I suppose you're right," she conceded, turning back to face him.

"Besides," he added with a smirk, "there's something I want to show you."

"Oh, alright, help me down," she groaned reluctantly. "I'll cave."

Hisoka moved in front of her and placed a hand on either side of her waist. She set her hands on his shoulders, and he effortlessly lifted her off the windowsill and to the floor.

"Come on," Hisoka urged in a mischievous tone, but with a facial expression like an excited child, taking her by the hand. "This way."

Cerridwen struggled to keep up with him as he rushed her down hallway after hallway, up a secluded stairway that seemed to go on forever, until they came out into a single room.

Cerridwen gasped.

The walls and ceiling of the room were made of glass, leaving nothing to obstruct the view of the clear, enchanting night sky. The floor was a dark green-and-black granite, and there were several lit pillar candles scattered here and there, their flames reflecting soothingly in the floor. She slowly made her way into the middle of the room, staring up in wonder at the glimmering stars. Moved by the beauty of it all, she sang softly under her breath.

 _Clock strikes twelve, and moondrops burst  
Out at you from their hiding place..._

Hisoka gave a tender smile, genuinely happy to see her so at peace. Walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, he sang the next line.

 _Like acid and oil on a madman's face  
His reason tends to fly away_

Cerridwen felt a warming sensation spread throughout her body.

"Where are we?" she asked in a whisper, bringing a hand up to caress Hisoka's cheek.

"The top of the airship," he answered, leaning his face down to nuzzle her neck affectionately. "They keep this room tucked away for astronomical observations; you can't even see it from the outside of the ship unless you know where to look."

Cerridwen stepped out of his embrace, turning to face him. She paused a moment, admiring the way the periwinkle moonlight illuminated his alabaster skin, how it sparkled in his golden eyes.

"Why are we here?"

Hisoka gave a small smile, admiring the way the moonlight fell on Cerridwen as well.

"I was hoping we could dance together, Belladonna," he answered sincerely. "The way that we used to."

Cerridwen felt a band of magenta flash across her cheeks, a stark backdrop to the star and moon Hisoka had drawn there.

"It...it's been so long, Hisoka," she managed, past the fluttering in her chest. "I'd probably step all over your feet."

He chuckled, sending a pleasant tremor down her spine. "Nonsense, darling. I'm sure you're as graceful as ever."

She exhaled slowly, arms shaking. "Alright, I'll try. Do we have music?"

Hisoka grinned, snapping his fingers. "But of course."

From somewhere in the darkness, a familiar melody began to play: sharp and dramatic. Cerridwen giggled as Hisoka firmly took hold of her waist and hand.

"Really?" she probed with a wry smile as she took hold of his hand and shoulder.

Hisoka pulled her against him, moving so that his lips were brushing against her ear.

"Don't tell me you're surprised, darling?" he breathed in the sultriest tone he could muster. "This was practically our song."

Cerridwen shuddered, trying to stop her legs from collapsing beneath her. Regaining composure, she responded, "How could I ever forget?"

The lyrics began to play, and the pair launched into a dance akin to a tango, gliding elegantly across the granite floor.

 _I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window  
I saw the flickering shadows of love on her blind  
She was my woman  
As she deceived me I watched and went out of my mind_

 _My, my, my, Delilah_ _  
Why, why, why, Delilah  
I could see  
That girl was no good for me  
But I was lost like a slave that no man could free_

 _At break of day when that man drove away I was waiting  
I crossed the street to her house and she opened the door  
She stood there laughing  
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more_

 _My, my, my, Delilah_ _  
Why, why, why, Delilah_ _  
So before  
They come to break down the door  
Forgive me Delilah, I just couldn't take any more_

Cerridwen was amazed at how fluidly she was moving as she and Hisoka twirled around the candles on the floor, never once disturbing them. Hisoka, however, was not surprised; she was every bit as nimble as the last time they danced together, years ago.

 _She stood there laughing  
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more_

 _My, my, my, Delilah_ _  
Why, why, why, Delilah  
So before  
They come to break down the door  
Forgive me Delilah, I just couldn't take any more  
Forgive me Delilah, I just couldn't take any more_

As the song ended, Hisoka dipped Cerridwen so far that she was almost touching the floor. Breathing rapidly, she gazed up into his eyes and smiled. She had forgotten just how much she loved dancing with him. With a smirk, Hisoka pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"And here you thought you'd trip over me," he mused, a devilish gleam in his eye.

Cerridwen gave a breathy laugh, moving a hand to the back of his neck.

"Thank you, Hisoka," she said earnestly. "I had almost forgotten that our relationship isn't just sexual tension and murder."

Hisoka chuckled, biting his lip. "Well, honestly, that _is_ about three quarters of it."

Cerridwen rolled her eyes. "Dammit, Bobo."

Without warning, Hisoka pressed his entire body against her, bringing a hand up to brush her bangs out of her face.

Goosebumps rose all over Cerridwen's body as she looked up into Hisoka's saffron eyes, that hunger filling them once more.

But there was something else, too.

Hisoka's smile faded as he looked into Cerridwen's emerald eyes, shining with desire, her lips parted slightly. Instead, his expression grew soft, and he felt his heart flutter briefly in the center of his chest.

"I love you, Cerridwen," Hisoka whispered, his eyes not leaving hers for an instant. "I know I don't tell you that anywhere near as often as I should, but..."

Cerridwen gave a gentle smile, pulse racing. "It's hard for you. I understand."

Hisoka smirked.

"I love you too, Hisoka," Cerridwen finished quietly, rubbing the nape of his neck. His eyes closed in pleasure at the sensation. "But you already knew that."

Barely opening his eyes, Hisoka warned (in a less than intimidating tone), "Don't let word get around that I'm capable of emotion."

Cerridwen giggled. "Of course not, I wouldn't do anything to damage your street cred."

Without another word, Hisoka bridged the gap between them, claiming Cerridwen's mouth with a passionate kiss. Her back arched, her body trying to press itself even closer against his. He drew his arms tighter around her, both their pulses pounding in their ears, neither of them wanting it to end. They broke apart for air, clutching at each other's hair, gasping for breath.

Hisoka stared at Cerridwen for a moment, before letting out a spontaneous laugh.

Cerridwen arched an eyebrow. "What?"

Hisoka grinned, admiring the lustre of the moonlight against her ivory skin.

"You're just so beautiful," he cooed. His expression snapping back to its normal demonic, lustful gaze, he added, "It's a pity we're in the middle of the Exam...there's _so many_ things I'd like to do to you."

Cerridwen's entire body quivered, a shaky breath escaping her throat. As much as she loved getting to see affectionate Hisoka, dangerous Hisoka drove her wild.

"Patience, love," she replied in a low voice. "The Exam will be over soon enough."

"I can hardly wait," Hisoka said in a sultry growl, before his lips met hers once more.


	10. Toil and Trouble

**Author's Note:** I'm so sorry about the delay in posting this chapter; holidays with my family are a hectic time. In addition, I was working on a small Christmas side-fic for Cerridwen and Kite, titled _The Family Business: Snowflake and Mistletoe_. It's posted and finished by now; if you like cheesy holiday fluff, please check it out!

Now, back to the story.

* * *

As a lusty orange dawn broke outside, Cerridwen awoke to find herself still in the room atop the airship, nestled in Hisoka's arms. They were resting on the floor, their backs leaned against one of the many sturdy glass walls. Hisoka jumped slightly in surprise as he felt Cerridwen stir, stretching before relaxing back into her previous position.

"Good morning, Little Monster," he crooned, reaching over and tucking her bangs behind her ear.

Cerridwen glared at him.

"Well you can't expect me to _completely_ abandon that pet name," he reasoned with a smirk. "Not when it suits you so well."

"Good morning, Bobo," she groaned, playfully shoving his face to the side.

Hisoka gave a dark chuckle, wrapping his arms tighter around Cerridwen. "What do you say we just stay up here for a while longer and...entertain ourselves?"

Cerridwen broke free of his arms and moved so she was straddling his lap, reaching out and grabbing hold of his chin. Hisoka slid his hands up her thighs to rest on her hips, his golden eyes locked with hers.

"It's tempting," Cerridwen muttered, biting her lip pensively; this _was_ probably the only alone time they would get until the end of the Exam, and despite what she had said the night before about waiting until it was over...

Suddenly, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She flashed her green eyes up to look at it, and her heart palpitated at the sight she beheld.

Outside the window, drawing closer on the horizon, was an immensely tall stone structure. It had a smooth, cylindrical shape, with a flat top, and no visible entrances. Cerridwen had heard of this place before from other Hunters; in fact, Ging used to tell her and Kite tales of it...and the monstrous people contained within.

"Belladonna?" Hisoka inquired, arching an eyebrow. "You look alarmed."

"Trick Tower," Cerridwen whispered, her gaze not straying from the monolith for an instant.

"Hmmm?" Hisoka probed in a lilting tone.

"Trick Tower," she repeated, rising to her feet and stepping over to the window. Confused, Hisoka stood as well and pivoted to see what she was talking about.

"Doesn't ring a bell," he commented, draping his arm across her shoulders.

Cerridwen scoffed, crossing her arms. "Really? That's a shocker. I would've thought some of your new arachnid friends would've mentioned it to you...not that any of them would ever get caught and end up there, but I don't doubt they know people doing time inside."

"So it's a prison, then?"

Cerridwen nodded gravely. "Essentially, it's _the_ prison. The world's most dangerous criminals get locked up inside, and the warden can manipulate the layout of the rooms at will. They can play mind games on you, subject you to monumental obstacle courses, whatever their twisted heart desires." She shuddered, moving her hands up to her shoulders and cringing. "It's not a place I'd ever be eager to find myself, neither as an inmate nor an Exam applicant."

"You have nothing to be nervous about, Belladonna," Hisoka said in an oddly comforting tone, squeezing her shoulder. "Together we're unstoppable; we can fight off whatever the warden can throw at us."

Cerridwen turned to him pleadingly. "But what if we get separated, Hisoka?" she began, her voice frantic. "I don't know any offensive Nen abilities, only defensive. What if they have Nen users locked up in there? What do I do?"

Hisoka tilted his head, furrowing his brow. "You mean your mentor never bothered to teach you that?"

"No," she responded, trying hard to keep her nerves under control. "Ging only taught me the basics, and only because Kite and I wouldn't leave him alone until he did. Kite helped me develop my Song Shield behind Ging's back, but we never could manage to get an actual _attack_ to work for me."

Hisoka looked away, trying to think of a constructive response.

"Ging told me once," she continued, looking back out the window, "that he felt there was someone else who would help me develop my Nen to its full potential, which is why he refused to teach me more than the basics. I...thought that person was Kite, but... evidently I was wrong."

Hisoka inhaled pensively. He was a Transmuter, and he was just now realizing he had no idea what type of aura Cerridwen had. He supposed her Song Shield could have been a Transmuter ability, since she changed the quality of her aura to effect the atmosphere around her, but he wasn't certain.

"Darling," he began, moving his hand to the small of her back, "exactly what type of Nen user are you?"

* * *

"Alright!" Ging declared, raising an extended index finger triumphantly in the air. "Kite! Cerridwen! You both have a firm grasp of the basics of controlling your aura. Now it's time to expand on that, as well as to start developing your Nen abilities. But first, in order to do that, we need to know what kind of aura you have!"

It was a crisp spring morning, and the trio was gathered in the woods, near the secluded cottage that Ging had used as their housing since he began training Kite and Cerridwen. Mourning doves and robins chirped in the trees as fourteen-year-old Cerridwen and eighteen-year-old Kite found themselves kneeling in the dew-covered grass, on either side of an archaic tree stump, facing each other. Resting atop the stump were two clear glasses of water, each with a tiny leaf floating on the water's surface, one before either of them.

"Kite!" Ging continued, causing both of the teenagers to jump in surprise. "Since you've done this test once already, why don't you go first to demonstrate to Cerridwen how it's done?"

Cerridwen directed her attention to Kite, smiling nervously. Ging had whisked Kite away into the woods just before the break of dawn a few weeks prior in order to perform this test without Cerridwen's knowledge; naturally, Kite told her about it the moment they were out of Ging's earshot. She could only assume that Ging was trying to keep it secret from her because he had no intention of teaching her how to put her specific type of Nen to use. She could also only assume that the only reason they were there in the woods at that moment was because Ging had a pang of conscience after hearing her and Kite talking in Gon's nursery the previous week.

"You...don't seem surprised to hear that Kite's done this before," Ging observed, sighing. Putting his hands on his hips, he turned to Kite and groaned, "Seriously, do you two _have_ to tell each other _everything?_ "

Cerridwen muffled a giggle.

"Frankly, yes," Kite replied plainly. "We've never kept anything from each other; after all these years, if we can't trust each other, who _can_ we trust?"

Cerridwen gave a firm nod, turning back to Ging who simply huffed in aggravation, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I wish the two of you had just a touch more aptitude," he murmured, closing his eyes, "so that I could send you off to take the Exam and get you out of my hair sooner."

Kite and Cerridwen exchanged amused glances, choking back laughter. Seeing Ging's intense brown eyes flash at them in annoyance, they regained composure and turned their attention back to Kite's glass.

"Now, let me tell you what's about to happen," Ging explained, looking at Cerridwen. "Kite is going to place his hands on either side of the glass and, using his Ren, his aura will affect the water in some manner. Depending on the effect his aura has on the water, we can determine what type of Nen user Kite is. Simple, right?"

"Yeah," Cerridwen responded with a nod, placing her hands palms-down on the stump and leaning forward slightly, her gaze focused on Kite.

Kite tried not to smile as he glanced up at Cerridwen's eager expression, her bright eyes locked diligently upon him. Inhaling deeply, he straightened his back and placed his hands on either side of the glass, palms facing each other; exhaling, he focused his stare on the glass, activating his Ren and letting his aura engulf the glass of water. Cerridwen watched in complete fascination as a small, solid speck began to materialize within the clear liquid, spinning over itself and growing to roughly the size of a nickel. A few seconds after the object formed, Kite moved his hands away from the glass and relaxed his posture, returning to his previous position.

"That's amazing, Kite," Cerridwen whispered, eyes wide.

Kite felt his ears threaten to turn pink.

"Doubtless you see the object that formed inside Kite's water," Ging said, addressing Cerridwen once more. "As I'm sure Kite already told you, that means he has a Conjurer aura, meaning he can use his Nen to form objects at will."

"Holy _shit_ ," she whispered, still transfixed on the glass.

Ging chuckled. "Yeah, well, don't you want to know what kind of aura _you_ have?"

Cerridwen snapped back to alertness, her frame suddenly going rigid and a cold sweat breaking out on her torso, even colder than the morning air. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly incredibly nervous.

"Y-yes, of course I do," she answered shakily, trying to relax as she turned her hands into the proper position alongside her glass of water.

"Breathe, Carrie," Kite said gently. "You'll do fine."

"Begin whenever you're ready," Ging added, smiling.

Cerridwen smirked apprehensively, before forcing herself to take a deep breath and focus her energy on the glass of water before her. Activating her Ren, she let her aura surround the glass and watched the water and leaf expectantly, eagerly awaiting any change.

But nothing happened.

"Cerridwen, stop," Ging instructed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Disheartened, she complied. Directing his gaze toward Kite, he added, "Kite, taste Cerridwen's water."

Confusion evident on his face, Kite reached across the stump to retrieve the glass and brought it to his lips. Cerridwen watched with baited breath, daring to hope that somehow the taste of the water would determine her result. Kite took a sip of the water, paused, then set it back in front of Cerridwen.

"It just tastes like regular water," he said quietly. Looking up at Ging, he theorized, "Maybe she needed to do it longer?"

"That should have been long enough," Ging debated, removing his hand from Cerridwen's shoulder. "If it tasted different, it would have meant she was a Transmuter...I don't understand what went wrong. Perhaps you're just not ready yet, Cerridwen."

Cerridwen sighed, her heart sinking. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand rest on top of one of hers, squeezing it tightly. Slowly, she looked up to see Kite's hazel eyes locked with hers, shimmering with encouragement.

"You can do this, Carrie," he said tenderly, smiling sweetly. "I believe in you. Try again."

Filled with sheer determination at Kite's unwavering faith in her, Cerridwen placed her hands on either side of the glass and activated her Ren once more. She concentrated on the water and the leaf, desperately willing something to happen to them.

Something began to appear in the water.

Cerridwen arched an eyebrow, but refused to break her concentration. Could she have been a Conjurer too?

"What is that?" Kite queried, eyeing the glass curiously. "Is that a bubble?"

Ging crouched down alongside the stump, leaning his face close to the glass.

"Don't stop, Cerridwen," he ordered, staring at the water as if it held all the world's secrets. "Keep going."

Cerridwen complied with Ging's request, watching as small bubbles began to appear in the bottom of the glass. Wispy streams of vapor began to rise from the surface of the water.

"... _steam?"_ Kite observed, moving from a kneeling position to a crouch.

The bubbles grew in size and speed, beginning to break the water's surface."

"Extraordinary," Ging breathed, utterly transfixed by the sight. "Cerridwen, your water, it's - "

" - boiling!" Cerridwen and Kite exclaimed in unison, broad grins on their faces. In her excitement, Cerridwen stopped using her Ren, and the water slowly returned to its previous temperature...leaving a wilted leaf floating limply on its surface. After a moment, Kite and Cerridwen both shot to their feet, and she launched herself into his arms.

"You did it!" Kite congratulated, laughing, spinning her in a circle. Coming to a halt and setting her down, he asked Ging, "So what does boiling water mean?"

"Yeah," Cerridwen agreed as she and Kite let go of each other, instead taking hold of his hand. "What's my Nen category, Ging?"

Ging remained silent, intentionally building anticipation for his reply. Grinning proudly, he finally responded, "You, my dear, are a Specialist."

Cerridwen gasped, and Kite squeezed her hand.

"That's incredible, Carrie!" Kite almost shouted with delight, lifting her hand and tenderly kissing the top of it.

Cerridwen blushed slightly, tucking her hair behind her ear, before asking, "So what does that mean?"

"That means," Ging said, picking up the still-warm glass and holding it in front of his face, "that you have a very unique aura with its own unique properties. You have the potential to learn abilities from all the Nen categories; however, Conjurer and Manipulator abilities would probably be the easiest, followed by Transmuter and Emitter. Enhancer abilities would likely be most difficult. You could also, in theory, develop abilities that combine the qualities of different Nen types, but that would require an incredible amount of training and practice."

Cerridwen nodded in comprehension. "I'll definitely have to wait a while before trying to learn any abilities, then," she commented with a smile, "but that's fine! I can start thinking of ideas to try out when the time comes!"

"That's the spirit!" Ging exclaimed, retrieving Kite's glass from the stump as well. "I'm going to head back to the cottage; I trust I can leave the two of you here to do your daily training exercises a while?"

"Of course," Kite responded with a reverent nod.

"Get to it, then," Ging demanded, turning and walking away.

Once Ging had vanished into the distance of the woods, Kite turned to Cerridwen and inquired, "So...do you want to start trying to learn some abilities, Miss Specialist?"

Cerridwen laughed and felt her heart start to dance with joy. "You mean...you'll teach me?"

He shrugged. "Well, if Ging thinks he's not the one to do it, who could it be if not me?"

She beamed, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Kissing his cheek lightly, she said, "Oh, thank you Kite! You're the best friend I could have ever asked for, you know that?"

Kite grinned, burying his face in Cerridwen's violet hair. "You're welcome, Carrie. It's the least I could do for a friend like you." After a moment, they broke apart. Inhaling the cool air deeply, Kite added, "So...shall we begin?"

* * *

"That explains quite a bit," Hisoka commented, placing a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "So, you're a Specialist...no wonder I can't seem to figure out what type of Nen your Song Shield applies."

Cerridwen smirked, looking back out the window at Trick Tower, feeling a lump rise in her throat.

"Kite managed to help me develop that ability, at least," she recalled distantly, "but we could never seem to get an offensive ability to work right for me. We tried a Conjurer technique for me to summon flame, but the most I ever managed was a small ball of fire in my hand, barely the size of a marble."

"Hmmm," Hisoka mumbled, deep in thought. "Well, we don't have long before we arrive at the next Phase, but...perhaps _I_ could be of some assistance?"

Cerridwen chuckled. "That's sweet, Hisoka, but I'm not exactly eager to undertake another mentorship right now."

"Now now, I wouldn't be _mentoring_ you," he debated, moving his hand from the small of her back to wrap around her waist. "I would merely be offering you some pointers."

Cerridwen directed her gaze to him; he arched an eyebrow.

"Interested?"

Giving a melancholy smile, she replied, "Okay, sure. What harm could it do?"


	11. Descent into Discomfort

Cerridwen squinted up at the sky, watching the Hunter Association airship fly away into the distance. She tried to stop her body from trembling as she looked down at the smooth tan stone beneath her boots, anticipating the horrors held within. The applicants had seventy-two hours to make it to the bottom of the tower; one applicant had already attempted to scale down the side, only to be taken away by some horrific flying beast. Letting out a shattered sigh, she set upon the task of trying to find a way into the tower.

"Cerridwen," came Hisoka's damnably suave voice from a few feet to her left.

She turned to see him crouched on the stone, inspecting a few segments of it closely.

"Come take a look," he urged, beckoning her over.

"Did you find a way in?" she inquired under her breath, making her way to him and kneeling down.

"Mm-hm, I think so," he replied with a smirk. "I believe these three tiles here empty into a room below if stood upon."

Cerridwen cocked her head. "They want us to do this in teams?"

Hisoka shrugged. "It appears so."

"Then we need at least one more person," she observed, glancing up and scanning the other applicants.

"What about Gon or your beanpole?" Hisoka suggested, directing his gaze toward Gon and his three friends on the other side of the roof. "Or even either of the other two? They all have promising qualities."

Cerridwen let out a loud, suspicious laugh. "Haha, no way. I promised Mito I'd keep Gon away from you, and even though I've already failed at that, I'd like to at least _try_ to redeem myself. As for the others, well, I'd just rather not subject them to you."

He chuckled. "Very well, but don't say I didn't give you any options."

She cocked her head, blinking in confusion. "Wait...what do you mean?"

Hisoka smirked, turning to look at someone far behind Cerridwen and motioning them over. Slowly, Cerridwen turned to see a tall, peculiar looking man making his way toward them...with sickly-complected skin and gold darts protruding from his face.

"Please tell me you're joking," she hissed, whipping back around to face Hisoka. "You know how uncomfortable Illumi makes me."

"Gittarackur," Hisoka corrected. "Don't give him away, darling."

Cerridwen scowled. " _Gittarackur_ , then."

"As much as you'd hate to admit it," Hisoka began, "he truly is our only option. Everyone else is either too weak to aid us at all, or too eager to kill one or both of us."

Cerridwen groaned; she hated it when Hisoka was right, especially when it came to the person in question. There was just something about him that set her on edge, but she had never figured out exactly what it was. Huffing, she nodded in concession as Gittarackur reached them, crouching down alongside her.

"Cerridwen," he greeted; she could still recognize Illumi's voice, distorted though it was by his disguised form. "It's been a while."

" _Gittarackur_ ," she replied, a wry smirk masking the scowl that was threatening to appear. "Indeed it has. You're looking...well."

He let out a sound that she could only assume was laughter. Hisoka chuckled, explaining to him what he had just told Cerridwen. He agreed to team up with them, and the three stepped onto the stones and fell to the secluded room below. Slowly, the three rose to their feet, observing their surroundings.

"Well this is...ominous," Cerridwen commented, looking around. They found themselves in a room comprised entirely of cold grey stones, with no sign of any entrance or exit. Against one wall stood a table with what appeared to be five wristbands and a note resting atop it. Intrigued, she cautiously approached it.

"Well?" Hisoka queried, eyeing the table with interest from afar. "What does it say?"

Gittarackur strode up alongside Cerridwen, gently reaching for the letter in her hand. She relinquished it without hesitation, not wanting any sort of physical contact with him.

"We need to wait for two more people to join us," he declared after scanning the message. "The bands have two different buttons on them, so that every member of the group may vote on decisions."

"Hmmm?" Hisoka said, bringing a hand up to his chin thoughtfully. "An exercise in majority rule?"

"Looks like," Cerridwen confirmed with a nod. "Pity none of the three of us play well with others."

"It could take a while for two more applicants to happen on this room," Gittarackur muttered. His gaze darting between Cerridwen and Hisoka, he asked, "Would either of you object to me getting a little more comfortable until the next person arrives?"

"Of course not," Hisoka answered with a smirk. Turning to Cerridwen, he added, "Belladonna?"

"Oh, that's a new one," Gittarackur observed. "I like it. Much nicer than that other one."

Cerridwen exhaled through her nose. "I guess flattery _will_ get you everywhere," she chuckled, turning her head to face him. "Go ahead, Illumi; I already know it's you."

"I expected as much," Gittarackur responded, walking to the opposite wall. Reaching up, he began to remove the gold pins from his face; as he did so, a different form was revealed. His sickly complexion faded to a flawless ivory, his blue mohawk unfurled into a full head of flowing ebony hair, and his eyes changed in size and color to a cold onyx. Blinking a few times, he slowly lowered himself into a sitting position.

Cerridwen felt a shiver run down her spine; if he wasn't so creepy, he might have been attractive.

"Fascinating," Hisoka commented with a smirk, sitting down against the opposite wall. Cerridwen strode over and sat down alongside him.

"Long time, no see," Cerridwen mused at Illumi, doing her level best to seem cordial.

Illumi merely tilted his head, staring at her blankly.

"Nevermind," she huffed, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes. "Let me know when two other people show up, would you?"

After a moment, Hisoka turned to Illumi and explained, "Forgive her; she's nervous about this Phase."

"Nervous?" Illumi repeated, confusion strangely evident in his normally emotionless voice. "Cerridwen? Why?"

"She feels she doesn't have much to offer in the offensive abilities department," Hisoka continued, shrugging. "I gave her a few pointers on the airship, so she may be able to produce some sort of Nen attack if need be."

Cerridwen cracked open one eye to stare daggers at Hisoka; she didn't want Illumi knowing that much about her insecurities.

"Just wake me when they get here," she growled, shutting her eyes once more.

* * *

Roughly an hour later, Hisoka roused Cerridwen. Upon waking, she saw that Illumi had changed back into his Gittarackur suit, and that they had been joined by Number 103, Bourbon, and Number 384, Geretta. While glad that they could finally progress, she wasn't exactly thrilled at the sight of their companions; honestly, Hisoka was the only one of the four that she trusted, and she knew that wasn't saying much.

"Relax, Belladonna, hmmm?" Hisoka coaxed, fastening one of the five armbands around Cerridwen's wrist as she gazed leerily at their companions. "It's only for one Phase. And if Bourbon or Geretta give you any trouble, I'm sure either Gittarackur or myself would be more than happy to...dispel the issue."

"Hisoka, _no_ ," she hissed, glaring at him. Her expression softening, she added, "It's just...I'm uneasy enough as it is. I don't need the added stress of working with people I distrust."

Hisoka smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Don't you worry, darling; I'm sure everything will go...interestingly."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Cerridwen groaned, worming her way out of his embrace. Gesturing toward the others, she said, "Come on, we'd better go see what the first poll is."

Hisoka nodded firmly, walking alongside her as they joined their group.

"'Personalized paths have been created for each of you upon your arrival in this room'," Bourbon read from a sheet of paper resting upon the stand at the head of the room. "'It is up to you if you are to embark on them, or remain a group.'"

"Anything to be away from The Beast and the Harlot," Geretta muttered, already raising his arm to press the button on his wristband.

"The feeling is mutual," Cerridwen scoffed, lifting her finger to indicate her vote as well. However, once her finger hovered over the corresponding button, she wavered. True, she wanted to be as far away from Gittarackur, Geretta, and Bourbon as possible, but the fact remained that she was terrified of what Trick Tower held in store for her; she would feel infinitely safer if she had Hisoka by her side until the end of the Phase. After a moment's deliberation, she entered her choice.

With a ding, a screen on the wall displayed the vote's results: four in favor of splitting up, one against.

"Okay, who's the one that wanted some quality bonding time?" Geretta asked, letting out an earnest laugh. "I've got to know."

"Probably 406," Bourbon replied, shooting a sideways glance and a wry smile at Cerridwen. "She seems reluctant to leave Hisoka's side for even an instant this Phase."

Cerridwen crossed her arms, flabbergasted. "Honestly I'm just as confused as you," she confessed, her gaze darting between Bourbon and Geretta. "It wasn't me. I swear it."

Bourbon and Geretta chuckled doubtfully, while Gittarackur and Hisoka simply smirked. Cerridwen huffed, trying to contain her frustration.

Suddenly, the slate-colored bricks on the wall to the group's left slid to the side, revealing a large brass door. Above it was an LED light sign bearing the number 384. Wordlessly, Geretta approached the door and walked through, closing it behind him. Shortly after, the sign read 103, and Bourbon walked through. Next, 301; Gittarackur ambled through, leaving only Hisoka and Cerridwen.

"Why did you vote to split up, Belladonna?" Hisoka queried, arching an eyebrow at her.

Cerridwen let out a small laugh. "Well, at least you believe me when I say I'm not the odd vote out. I just really didn't want to be around the others, to be frank."

Hisoka nodded in comprehension, turning to look at the door once more.

A minute or so later, the sign above the door lit up once more, bearing the number 44. Hisoka turned to face Cerridwen, placing his hands gently on her hips.

"I suppose that's my cue," he said, his eyes flickering up to meet Cerridwen's. "I'll see you at the base of the tower, darling."

For a brief moment, fear flashed behind Cerridwen's emerald eyes. It was only for an instant, but it lasted long enough for Hisoka to notice.

"Relax, Little Monster," he cooed, bringing a hand up to tilt her chin upward. "Just remember what I told you on the airship. I'm sure you'll be fine."

She blushed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him tenderly. He chuckled, nipping at her lip before they broke apart.

"Good luck, Bobo," Cerridwen mused with a smirk as they let go of each other, taking a few steps backward.

"Same to you," Hisoka replied with a devilish smile, heading for the door. Cerridwen watched silently as Hisoka opened the door and stepped through, beginning to close the door behind him. At the last second though, he paused and peered around the door at her.

"By the way," he began, "the one who voted to stay together? It was me."

Cerridwen gasped, her jaw dropping. Before she could ask him why in the hell he voted that way, he flashed her another damnable smile and vanished behind the door.

Only Cerridwen was left in the room now, staring at the large, imposing door, left to wonder about Hisoka's motives. Was he planning on killing Geretta and Bourbon? Given their friendship, did he want to compete alongside Gittarackur? Or did he simply want to stay with her in order to keep her mind at ease? She wanted to believe she was the reason; but, knowing Hisoka, she was fairly convinced he wanted to attack their opponents.

The lights on the sign glared the number 406 intimidatingly, and she felt her heart leap into her throat.

"Well, here goes," Cerridwen mumbled, striding forward and firmly grasping the cold handle of the door. Letting out a shattered breath, she pulled the door open and stepped inside.


	12. How You've Turned My World

As she heard the almost threatening sound of the massive door shutting behind her, Cerridwen found herself standing at the head of a long corridor. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all comprised of the same rust-colored brick, making her feel like she was trapped in a desktop screensaver from the nineties. She took a moment to peer down the hallway, trying to figure out how far it stretched; despite her best efforts, she couldn't see where it ended.

"Well, nowhere to go but forward," she mumbled to herself, her brown leather boots beginning to embark on the path set before her.

She walked for what felt like an hour, straight forward, with no visible turns or corners to alter the path at all. Had she simply not noticed them? Or was this hallway really going to go on forever? She knew Trick Tower couldn't possibly have been wide enough for the corridor to truly be that long...could it?

After walking for a short while longer, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and whipped around to face it. There, in the wall, she noticed something seemed different about the bricks. They weren't a different color, or different style, but they were just...different. Intrigued, she reached out to touch them.

Her hand passed directly through the wall.

"A hologram?" she whispered, slowly stepping through the image of the bricks to find herself in another expansive hallway. "Huh."

Cerridwen continued down the new hallway, keeping her eyes peeled for any more hologram walls, until she came to an obvious turn in the path. She followed it, and eventually came upon another hallway branching off of it. Soon after, it became incredibly clear to her that she was trapped in a sort of maze.

 _Great_ , she thought, groaning, rounding another corner. _Just fuckin' fantastic. It's going to take forever to get to the base of the tower at this rate...especially if I get lost in this blasted maze_.

"If this is some _Labyrinth_ bullshit," Cerridwen began to shout at the ceiling, assuming that somewhere the Examiner could hear her, "David Bowie had damn well better be waiting for me at the center!"

She stood there for a moment, expecting some sort of reply. Upon receiving none aside from resounding silence, she sighed and continued on through the twisting and turning corridors. After what felt like hours, she came to an abrupt halt.

There, before her, was a door. A huge, brass door, not unlike the one she had passed through to enter her personalized route. Apprehensively, she grasped the handle and opened the door.

"Oh," she whispered, glancing around. "This looks nothing like the castle beyond the Goblin City."

She found herself standing on a platform of dark stone, surrounded by an expansive chasm. At the far end of the room, seemingly a football field's length away, stood a similar platform. On the wall behind this platform was a door similar to the one she entered; she could only assume it was the exit.

 _So, I have to make it to the other side?_ she thought, cautiously approaching the edge of the platform she stood upon. _Depending on how deep this pit is, I might be able to climb down this platform and climb back up the on the other-_

Looking down, she saw that the crater not only went for at least a mile, but also contained a glowing layer of boiling lava at the bottom.

"... _fuck_ ," she spat, plopping to the ground, continuing to glare at the lava.

She sat there for at least two hours, trying to come up with a solution. She sincerely doubted her Song Shield would be of much use; even if it had enough range to reach down to the lava, what on earth would she do with it? Raise it? All that would do would be make the room warmer. Besides, though her Song Shield could alter her environment, she was fairly certain it didn't have anywhere near that kind of power behind it...which was also why she couldn't simply make her platform expand to reach the other.

She found herself at an impasse.

Suddenly, a trapdoor opened in the ceiling above the other platform, and a familiar form fell from it to land in a crouching position on the dark stone. It was difficult to make out the fine details from so far away, but the person was clad in black pants, a white turtleneck, a sky-blue sash, and atop their flowing ivory hair rested an odd blue hat.

Cerridwen simply sat there, mouth gaping in shock, as he observed his surroundings. His gaze finally falling upon her, he called out in confusion.

"Cerridwen?" he probed, walking closer to the edge of his platform. "Is that _you?"_

 _Well, I gotta say_ , she thought, recognizing his voice and smirking, _this is better than finding David Bowie waiting for me_.

" _Kite?_ " she asked, tilting her head quizzically.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Kite implored, gesturing wildly. "Do you know where we are?"

"Yeah," she answered calmly, shifting so she was sitting cross-legged. "Trick Tower. This is where Phase Three of the Hunter Exam is being held. What on earth are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, since you were off babysitting Bobo for the Exam," Kite explained, "I decided to take a quick solo job to occupy my time. There was a fire set on a nature reserve, it took out half the trees and wildlife. The head of the reserve managed to identify the arsonist, but is having trouble tracking him down. So, he contracted me to do it. Turns out there's a few criminals locked up in here who know the guy pretty well, and might know where he might be."

"Seems like a bit of a longshot, Snowflake," Cerridwen commented. "Ging told us the absolute worst kinds of criminals were locked up here. I doubt they'd be willing to help you for anything short of freedom."

He shrugged. "True. But it's my only lead."

Cerridwen mirrored the gesture.

"Why aren't you with Hisoka?" Kite inquired after a moment, lowering himself into a sitting position.

"We got separated," she replied. Looking down at the lava, she added, "Which is a pity...I could really use his Bungee Gum ability right about now..."

Kite leaned forward to look into the chasm for the first time.

"Lava," he observed, blinking. "That's interesting."

"That's my problem," Cerridwen said. "I should have just stayed with Hisoka somehow...maybe then I wouldn't be stuck in this fucking death trap."

"Isn't Hisoka pretty much a fucking death trap?" Kite asked with a half-scowl.

Cerridwen chuckled. "Actually...he's been acting strangely out of character these last couple days. True, he's killed at least ten applicants so far, and attacked Gon and Leorio, but...he's been more affectionate toward me than usual. It's honestly kind of worrying."

Kite scoffed. "He's probably trying to find a way to have you all to himself, and he realizes you need more than just wild kinky sex to stay with him."

"Come on, Kite," she began, smirking, "you know damn well I'd never just abandon you. I love you."

Kite smiled warmly.

"And Hisoka is content not having me all to himself. I mean, you've met the guy; you can't possibly tell me you don't think he doesn't sleep with whoever he wants when I'm not around."

"No, I can't," Kite huffed. "Cerridwen, what the hell do you see in him?"

Cerridwen furrowed her brow. Maybe it was just the stress the Phase was putting on her, but something seemed off about Kite...he hadn't called her "Carrie" or "Wildflower" even once since they had started talking, and though he wasn't fond of Hisoka, he had never campaigned against him before. Not to mention the fact that Kite's presence usually calmed her, but she still felt just as on-edge as she had in the maze.

Cerridwen groaned, shifting so that she was lying down and staring at the ceiling.

"I'm never gonna get out of here," she lamented. "Hisoka is going to kill an Examiner and I'll have to come try to keep him in line again next year, I'm not going to get to see Gon get his license; I'm just gonna die, right here, on this rock."

Kite chuckled. "You're not going to die in here, I promise you. And...did you say Gon? He's taking the Exam this year? And you're not worried sick?"

"He's made three good friends already," she explained, a small smile on her lips. "Kurapika and Leorio he met on the ferry over from Whale Island, and Killua he met during Phase One; he's Gon's age."

"What about the others?"

"Kurapika's about seventeen," Cerridwen elaborated. "Protective, good head on his shoulders, logical. Leorio's probably about twenty, give or take...he's a bit of a goofball, but he's actually a pretty decent guy, and much smarter than you'd initially think."

"He's in good hands, then," Kite said. "Good."

"Yeah," Cerridwen mused with a grin. "I'm sure he's perfectly safe."

* * *

Roughly another hour had gone by, during which Kite had tried to pick the lock on the exit door to no avail, and Cerridwen had attempted to adapt her Song Shield into a type of Conjurer technique to create a bridge across the chasm; it fell apart before she had even managed to get to the chorus of "Bridge Over Troubled Water", incinerating on the lava below. Kite offered to help, but Cerridwen refused on the grounds that it was her challenge, and she should be the one to find a way across.

"It's a pity you can't just make a helium shield around yourself and fly across," Kite commented, leaning against the wall next to the door.

Cerridwen, who had returned to her previous position lying down and staring at the ceiling, rolled onto her stomach with a gasp and looked at Kite, a gleam in her eye.

"...Cerridwen, you would suffocate yourself," Kite stated plainly. "Don't even try it."

Cerridwen giggled. "I know that, silly, but you just gave me a wonderful idea!" She sprang to her feet, walking to the edge. "I'll just walk across!"

Kite's eyes grew wide enough to take up nearly a third of his face. "Cerridwen, _PLEASE!_ That will _definitely_ kill you!" Reaching an arm out toward the expanse between them, he added, "Just give me a minute and I can probably conjure up _something_ for you to walk on, just please stay on the platform!"

"Kite! Relax!" Cerridwen shouted, standing perfectly still. "And please be quiet. I need to concentrate. I can do this. Trust me."

Reluctantly, Kite lowered his arm. "Okay. I believe you."

Cerridwen exhaled slowly, trying to calm her nerves. She knew she wouldn't get them down to the level she'd like, but she could get them damn close. She closed her eyes and imagined a bubble of air surrounding her, allowing her to walk safely across the void between the two platforms, and began to sing.

 _There's a little creepy house in a little creepy place  
Little creepy town in a little creepy world  
Little creepy girl with her little creepy face  
Saying funny things that you have never heard_

 _Do you know what it's all about  
Are you brave enough to figure out  
Know that you could set your world on fire  
If you are strong enough to leave your doubts_

Opening her eyes, she carefully set her foot over the edge; it felt as though it landed on a firm surface, despite the fact that nothing was there. She directed her gaze to Kite, who was gaping at her breathlessly, and grinned. Continuing to walk forward, she kept on singing.

 _Feel it, breathe it, believe it  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try, go fly, so high  
And you'll be walking on air_

 _You feel this, unless you kill it  
Go on and you're forgiven  
I knew that I could feel that  
I feel like I am walking on air_

"That was astounding," Kite managed as Cerridwen stepped onto the platform.

"I'm honestly impressed myself," Cerridwen mused with a breathy laugh. "I wasn't sure if that was going to work."

Before Kite could scold her for taking such a risk, the exit door unlocked with an echoing click and swung open.

"Shall we?" Kite queried, eyeing Cerridwen curiously.

She nodded, gesturing toward the doorway. "After you."

He shrugged, turning in the direction of the door and striding through it, Cerridwen in tow.

They now found themselves in a large, barren room. Cerridwen could just barely make out a door in the distance, with a lit torch alongside it. There was a lone candelabra on the floor about ten feet ahead of them, which they headed toward. As they reached it, the door slammed shut behind them, and darkness crept in dauntingly; Cerridwen jumped, bringing her hands up to grab onto her shoulders in an insecure manner.

"Relax, Cerridwen," Kite tried to soothe her. "You've been strangely on edge this whole time. What's wrong?"

Cerridwen looked up at him sheepishly. "I know Kite, I know. It's just...I'm sure it's you, but...it doesn't feel like you."

Kite cocked his head. "You're not making sense."

"I mean," she elaborated, "usually just hearing your voice makes me feel completely at peace, but it's done next to nothing for me. And, your presence...it doesn't feel like you. Not to mention you seem to be acting a little strange. And before I got to that last room, I was trapped in a maze, there were fake walls, I was so confused-"

"-fake walls?" Kite inquired, attempting to get her to focus.

"Y-yeah," she muttered. "They looked like they were brick, and seemed to be part of the wall, but something about them seemed...different. So I went up to them and tried to touch them, but my hand passed right through. They were holograms."

"Holograms?" Kite repeated. "Cerridwen...is that why you haven't touched me? You're afraid I'm a hologram?"

"I...I'm sorry, Snowflake," she managed, staring at her feet. "I guess I'm just stressed."

"Carrie. I'm here."

Cerridwen's heart leapt; hearing him call her "Carrie" was enough to send a ray of hope through her. She raised her eyes to meet the comforting stare of his.

"It's me," he finished, reaching his right hand out to her, a gentle smile on his lips.

Cerridwen reached her hand out toward his, her heart dancing. True, she had only been away from him for roughly a week (which was frankly nothing compared to time they had spent apart before), but right now he was exactly who she needed.

Suddenly, a sharp whooshing noise pierced through the air, accompanied by a bright flash of silver.

Kite's arm fell to the ground, thick crimson blood beginning to pool around it.

"KITE!" Cerridwen screamed, bringing her hand up to her mouth in horror.

Kite gasped, bringing his other hand over to grasp just above where his arm had been severed. Turning to gawk at the wound, he fell to his knees.

"Fuck, um, okay," Cerridwen forced through the tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "This...this might not be game over, Kite! I...um...I might be able to reattach it somehow! I managed to bring down Leorio's swelling earlier by altering Song Shield, maybe I can fix you the same way!"

"Heh," Kite managed, the corner of his mouth twitching. "It's a nice thought, but it won't work. It's too late."

Cerridwen's heart wrenched, tears streaming down her face.

"P-please don't say that, Kite," she choked, kneeling down in front of him. "Please just let me try...I can't lose you, Kite! You're my world! I...I love you."

"I love you too, Carrie," he replied with a raspy voice, looking up at her. Cerridwen choked back another scream; his already pale skin had lost all semblance of color, the area below his eyes was frightfully grey, and his eyes were growing duller by the second.

"No," she declared firmly, reaching for his severed arm. "No, I have to at least try!"

She gasped.

Her hand phased right through it.

Her heart stopped.

" _No_ ," she whispered, turning to Kite and slowly reaching her hand toward the side of his face. "No _fucking_ way."

Her hand passed through his face, and both he and his severed arm vanished in a flicker of pixels.

" _No FUCKING WAY!_ " she shrieked at the top of her lungs, her blood boiling. She shot to her feet, still crying, her tears making hot trails down her cheeks. Spinning in all directions, she bellowed, "You think this is _funny?_ You think this is a _game? Fuck you!_ You'd better _pray_ you never meet me face-to-face, because I will tear your throat out on _sight!_ FUCK YOU!"

She toppled down to her knees once again, holding her face in her hands.

"...fuck you."

For several minutes, she heard nothing but the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. Then, she heard footsteps. As she raised her head to see another Kite hologram, her hands clenched into fists.

"What now?" she asked, regarding it coldly.

Before her eyes, the hologram's skin began to melt off its bones. She inhaled sharply, a new wave of tears cascading forward.

"Stop it," she pleaded, looking away.

Another hologram appeared in her line of vision. She turned away. Then another hologram appeared.

And another.

And another.

Until she was surrounded.

"Fine then," she sniffed, her bloodshot eyes darting between all of them defiantly. "Do your worst."

She regretted saying it almost instantly.

All around her, the Kite holograms began to die, brutally murdered before her eyes. Shot, stabbed, strangled, dismembered...and as soon as one fell and vanished, another appeared in its place. She curled up in the fetal position on the floor, sobbing, shutting her eyes tight. All she could hear were their screams.

His screams.

Kite's screams.

His terror, his pain, his voice frantically shouting her name, begging her to run. She wanted to run, too, but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to move from her position. She lacked the energy to do anything other than cry, wishing the holograms would go away, cursing under her breath at the Examiner. All she felt was anguish. Pure anguish. And it paralyzed her.

 _"Cerridwen, please, run!"  
_

Cerridwen gradually opened her eyes, her vision blurred by tears. Squinting, she peered past the bloodied, battered Kite holograms at the exit door, far off in the distance.

But not _too_ far.

Maybe, just maybe, she could ignore the holograms long enough to make a run for it.

Inhaling pensively, she mustered all her courage and bolted for the door. The holograms simply followed her, appearing in her path, trying to block her. She simply ran through them, failing at holding back more tears in the process. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. At long last, she felt the door handle in her grasp and yanked it open, not even bothering to close it as she rushed through.

As she ran further down the hallway, the echoes of the Kite holograms' screams grew fainter and fainter. Her throat was dry from her panicked breathing, feeling almost like it was bleeding with every breath she took, and her legs threatened to collapse beneath her. Looking up, she saw a rickety wooden door at the end of the corridor. Relieved to see a possible end to this fresh hell before her, she sped up to reach it and shoved it open with all her might.

Toppling through the doorway, she crashed into a pair of surprisingly strong arms.


	13. Reunion and Respite

Cerridwen couldn't stop shaking, despite the comforting embrace. She closed her eyes, gasping for breath, gripping onto his white button-up and burying her face in his chest. She forced herself to take a deep, even breath, trying to focus on the scent of English Leather clinging to his skin, the sound of his breathing...anything that would make her feel safe.

Leorio went rigid from shock, trying to process what had just happened. Cerridwen had just appeared out of nowhere, seemingly the wall, and crashed straight into his chest. He had wrapped his arms around her purely on instinct, before he could even realize it was her. Leaning back slightly, he reached for her chin and tenderly tilted her face upward.

"Cerridwen, are you alright?" he inquired, eyeing her in concern.

All she managed in response was a slight whimper.

Leorio let out a small gasp, taking in the tear stains streaking down her face; they had smeared the star and crescent moon that Hisoka had drawn on her cheeks, leaving only two gold and aqua blurs in their wake. Her eyeliner and mascara left black trails down her face, like mud splattered on freshly-fallen snow. Her lips were bone-dry, even bleeding in spots; he could only assume she had bitten them in anxiety. Her nose was a bright pink, and her eyes were a startling mixture of green and red; it looked to him like she may have broken a blood vessel or three.

"Cerridwen...what happened to you?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"I...maze..." she rasped, her voice almost squeaking from the effort, "f-fake...Kite...dead!"

With a sob, she sank into his chest once more, her entire body vibrating.

Moving one hand up to somewhat apprehensively begin stroking her hair, Leorio directed his gaze to Kurapika and said, "Kurapika, get my jacket out of my briefcase; she's in shock. It's not a blanket, but it'll do."

"She's not the only one," Tonpa muttered, glancing from Cerridwen to Killua uneasily.

As Kurapika draped Leorio's suitjacket over Cerridwen's shoulders, she turned her head away from Leorio's chest to finally observe her surroundings. Leorio, Kurapika, Gon, Tonpa, and herself were standing on what appeared to be a sort of shelf in the wall, an expansive chasm before them. On the opposite side of the room was a similar ledge, upon which stood four peculiar-looking people; she assumed they were inmates of the Tower. In the center of the room was a massive square platform, a flaming torch erect in each corner. Lying in the middle of the platform was the body of a large, muscular man, with a hole in the center of his chest. Standing next to him was Killua...holding the man's heart in his hand.

Cerridwen blinked in confusion, wondering if she was still surrounded by holograms. But...Leorio had his arms around her...and he certainly felt like himself...

Suddenly, she felt a tugging at the back of her shirt.

"Cerridwen!" came Gon's voice, laced with concern. "What happened? How did you find us? Why aren't you with Hisoka?"

"Give her a moment, Gon," Kurapika interjected, placing a hand on Gon's shoulder and pulling him away from her. "There are several questions that need to be answered right now."

"Ki-Killua...?" Cerridwen managed, eyeing the boy not quite in alarm, but curiosity. If that really _was_ Killua, she was just realizing that something about him seemed very familiar.

Leorio drew his arms tighter around her, using his shoulder to try to shield her eyes from the sight.

"Oh, that's right," Gon began slowly, lifting a finger to his chin. "You guys don't know."

"Don't know _what?_ " Leorio urged, struggling to stay composed.

"Killua comes from a family of assassins," Gon stated matter-of-factly, smiling cutely as Killua crossed a narrow walkway to return to the group.

 _Of course!_ Cerridwen thought, her presence of mind beginning to return. _He must be a Zoldyck!_ _  
_

" _Assassins?_ " Leorio repeated, eyes growing wide.

"Yeah," Killua replied matter-of-factly, stretching. "I've been training since I was a little kid." Directing his gaze to Cerridwen, he added, "Huh? What happened to you?"

"Wha-what happened with all of you?" Cerridwen inquired, turning her head to look at the others, less than eager to leave Leorio's embrace just yet.

Tonpa scoffed. "Well most importantly, Tall Dark and Stupid over there just gambled away fifty hours of our time."

Cerridwen felt Leorio's muscles tense.

"Well at least I didn't throw the first fight!" he snapped at Tonpa, who shrugged indifferently at the attack.

"There's no point in arguing about it now," Kurapika interjected, gently taking hold of Cerridwen's elbow and easing her out of Leorio's arms; she followed his lead as the group began to head onto the platform in the center of the pit. "The sooner we enter the designated waiting room, the sooner we can resume the Phase."

As he said this, a doorway opened in the wall adjacent to them. A walkway extended toward it from the platform, and the six of them carefully made their way across.

* * *

The waiting room was small, but not cramped. The walls were a cool grey slate, the floor a few shades darker. There were several forms of distractions and entertainment provided, including numerous books, a television, and a few different gaming consoles. A sizable coffee table resided in the center of the room, with a few small stands scattered around. There were several black cushions, one resembling a couch among them. Kurapika immediately steered Cerridwen toward the couch; Cerridwen was more than willing to have a seat. Leorio sat down alongside her, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders. Seeing that she was in good hands, Kurapika turned around and joined Tonpa by the table, where a couple thermoses rested.

"Cerridwen, what happened?" Gon inquired, crawling into her lap, placing a hand on either side of her face and inspecting it closely. "I've never seen you this upset."

"This Phase...hasn't been kind to me, Gon," she managed with a weak smirk, pulling Leorio's jacket tighter around her shoulders. Though she felt no better than when she had bumped into them, the last thing she wanted was to worry Gon. "I'll be fine. Really. I'm with all of you now."

"You don't look like you're gonna be fine," Killua commented in a skeptical tone, pulling a cushion up and sitting down. "What happened to you?"

"I'm not certain she wants to relive the experience so soon, Killua," Kurapika said, carrying a cup of hot tea, returning to the couch and sitting down alongside Cerridwen. Handing her the tea, he added gently, "Here, take this; it should help to calm you."

"Thank you," Cerridwen whispered, her gaze radiating gratitude as she weakly took the tea from him. She wrapped her hands around the cup, the warmth of the ceramic gradually spreading across her skin. After a moment, she raised the cup to her lips and took a small sip of the amber liquid. Kurapika was right; it felt oddly soothing.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, Cerridwen," Gon said quietly, leaning forward and gingerly pressing his lips against her forehead, before quickly pulling back and smiling at her. He still wanted to know what had happened, but he didn't want to pressure her. He heard her mention Kite when she was sobbing into Leorio's chest, so he could imagine whatever happened must have been incredibly traumatizing.

Despite herself, Cerridwen smiled through a fresh batch of tears as she looked into the boy's shimmering brown eyes; he really was an absolute bubble of sunshine.

"It might do you some good to talk about it," Tonpa offered from the other side of the room. He was less than interested, but he frankly wanted the Hallmark Greeting Card moment on the couch to end as soon as possible.

Cerridwen sighed. "Alright. I'll tell you, then."

And so, she recounted the entire experience. Waiting for the other applicants, the voting, the personalized routes, the maze, the hologram walls, her conversation with hologram Kite, the varying ways the hologram Kites were killed before her...the only thing she left out was any mention of Illumi. She managed to hold herself together far better than she expected; whenever she started to cry, Leorio would gently squeeze her shoulder, wrapping his arm a little tighter around her each time.

When she finished, Gon launched himself toward her, wrapping his arms around her neck in a sympathetic hug. Cerridwen closed her eyes and smiled, letting her tears flow freely. Kurapika carefully removed the empty teacup from Cerridwen's hand, allowing her to wrap her arm around Gon in return. He then started to get up to refill the cup, but Killua stopped him.

"Here, I'll get her more," Killua interjected quietly, grabbing hold of the cup before Kurapika could process it. After a moment of stunned silence, Kurapika let go of the cup and smiled at Killua.

"Thank you," Cerridwen whispered, her eyes still shut tight. "All of you. For everything."

Killua froze, blinking in shock a couple times, before turning away and going to refill the teacup. He wasn't exactly used to gratitude, in any form, and wasn't entirely certain how to respond to it. After replenishing the tea, he returned to Cerridwen and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Killua," she said quietly, her green eyes meeting his blue ones; to his surprise, despite how weary and bloodshot her eyes were, they were still - _somehow_ \- shining brightly.

"Y-yeah," he said uncertainly, sitting back down on the cushion and looking away. "Sure."

* * *

A few hours had passed by, and most everyone had decided to nap for a while. Kurapika had fallen asleep by a stack of books in the corner, Gon and Killua in front of the television, and Tonpa across the room with his face buried in a copy of _The National Inquirer_. Only Leorio and Cerridwen remained awake, Leorio on one end of the couch-cushion reading a rather old-looking book, and Cerridwen on the other end with a sketchbook. She reached up to scratch her face, before pulling her had away and making a sound of disgust. Leorio arched an eyebrow, turning his head to look at her.

"Are you okay?" he queried, his brow furrowing.

"I...got makeup under my nails," she replied with a scowl, glaring at her fingers. "I forgot it was all over my face."

Leorio chuckled, slipping a bookmark into his book, shutting it, and setting it on the table. Scooting closer to her, he unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt sleeve and held his arm out toward her.

"Leorio?" she asked, tilting her head in complete confusion.

"Wipe it off," he said, shaking his arm a bit in an attempt to convince her. "I've got another clean shirt in my briefcase; it's fine."

Cerridwen blinked a few times, unsure how to react. She hesitantly reached out and grasped hold of the white fabric, before leaning toward it and wiping it across her cheekbones and her eyelids. Though the fabric wasn't exactly the softest, she had to admit it felt amazingly liberating to finally clean off her face.

"Thank you, Leorio," she whispered with a small smile, turning back to her sketchbook.

"What're you drawing?" Leorio asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as he leaned closer.  
As he peered over her shoulder, he saw that she was drawing the bust of a man. He had long, flowing hair and sharp, striking features with rounded almond-shaped eyes. He was wearing a turtleneck, and an odd-looking hat. His gaze seemed to be fixed somewhere far away, the faintest smile upon his lips.

"Is that Kite?" Leorio inquired, glancing from the sketchbook to Cerridwen's face. She appeared focused, yet relaxed...a stark contrast from how she was earlier.

"What? ...oh! Yes, yes it is," she answered, snapping herself out of the drawing trance she had fallen into. "Sometimes when I'm upset," she explained, setting her pencil down on the corner of the page, "I draw people I care about to help calm myself down."

The corner of Leorio's mouth twitched into a warm smirk. "So how many pages of that book are filled with sketches of Kite?"

Cerridwen let out a breathy laugh, turning to face him. "Not as many as you seem to think. I mean, I guess I _do_ draw him most often, but I've also got pictures of Hisoka, Gon, his aunt, his grandma, his father..."

"Have you shown Gon?" Leorio inquired, in a low voice.

Cerridwen paused, glancing toward Gon's sleeping form before looking back into Leorio's tawny eyes.

"No," she responded in a whisper. "Ging was always very...adamant about Gon finding him on his own when the time came. I can't help but get this feeling that showing him my drawings would somehow get him closer to finding him."

Leorio furrowed his brow.

"Don't get me wrong," she elaborated, hastily holding up her hand, "I want to. I really want to do whatever I can to help him. But...Ging was my mentor; he made me promise to let Gon make all the steps toward finding him himself. If I choose to accompany him, that's fine, as long as I don't tell him what to do or where to go."

"And how would showing him drawings of Ging do that?"

"I used to draw Kite and Ging during Kite's extra training lessons," Cerridwen explained, shutting her sketchbook and slipping it back into her bag. "Ging saw me one day and asked to look at them, and he said that I captured them in such a way that he felt like he knew everything about them just from looking at the drawings. I mean, he already knew almost everything about them, considering one person was himself and the other was one of his students, but I took it as a huge compliment nonetheless."

Leorio chuckled, grinning. "Were compliments a rarity from Ging?"

"Not necessarily," she shrugged. "He was a strict instructor, I'll admit, but he was supportive of both of us regardless. It's just he always seemed more impressed by Kite when it came to our physical abilities; Kite always made it a point to build me up during training because of it."

"If Ging was so strict," Leorio began, tilting his head quizzically, "how was he even remotely comfortable with you and Kite _dating?_ How did that even come about if you were constantly around your mentor?"

Cerridwen laughed. "Ging thought he did a good job of keeping us separated, to acclimate us to the idea of being apart after being each other's entire world for most of our lives, but the fact of the matter is he was actually really bad at it. There would be weeks on end that he'd leave us alone at the cottage, with food, money, and a training schedule to follow while he was away...in fact, I'm fairly certain one December when Ging was off on a Hunting trip was when we realized we were falling in love with each other."

"But when did you actually _tell_ each other?"

"The following autumn," Cerridwen replied, followed by a loud yawn. "I'd tell you about it if you wanted, but I think I should lie down."

Leorio moved back to the other end of the couch-cushion, stretching his legs out in front of him. Looking back at her, he said, "You let me fall asleep on you in the airship, it's only fair I return the favor."

Cerridwen gazed at him a moment before chuckling and sprawling out on the cushion, resting her head on his lap. Leorio reached over to where his suitjacket rested against the back of the cushion. Grasping hold of it, he pulled it closer and draped it over Cerridwen's upper-body like a blanket.

"Thank you, Leorio," she said, exhaling through her nose in amusement. Her face adopting a more serious expression, she added, "And thank you for earlier, too. It meant a lot to me."

He arched an eyebrow, his heart skipping a beat in shock. "Earlier?"

She gave a slight nod. "Mm-hm. When I found you all. I just...thank you. So much. For just holding me. I felt so safe with you, Leorio. I can't even begin to put into words how much I appreciated you being there."

Leorio fought back a gasp, feeling his face flush a bright red. "It...it was nothing, Cerridwen, really. I'm just glad I could help."

Cerridwen beamed, reaching up to push Leorio's dark circular glasses upward slightly on the bridge of his nose.

"So..." Leorio mused, a wry smile making its way across his face, "...about you and Kite..."

"Okay, okay," Cerridwen scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I apologize in advance if I fall asleep before the story's over. So, it was after we had finished training with Ging one day in late September..."


	14. Easy to Fall

It was a balmy, sunny autumn day. Ging had ended training early (why, he didn't say), so Cerridwen and Kite decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a walk together in the woods. They walked for hours, kicking their way through the thick layer of golden leaves blanketing the ground, until they came to a relatively wide river. The water was a deep greenish hue, almost murky but not unpleasant to the eye. Deciding it seemed like a good place to take a rest, the two sat down alongside each other on the riverbank.

"I'll bet he's going on another Hunting trip," Cerridwen theorized, stretching before easing herself down to the ground, resting her head in Kite's lap. "Why else would Ging end training so early?"

Honestly, Cerridwen had no idea if Ging was planning a Hunting trip or not; she was more or less hoping that saying it out loud would make it true. She and Kite hadn't had any decent length of time alone since Christmas, and she didn't know about Kite, but she definitely had been longing for more. She realized then, when they were decorating the house together, when they kissed under the mistletoe, just how she felt about him. If Ging was going to be gone for a few days, maybe she'd be able to muster up the courage to tell him. She reached up, playfully tugging on the brim of Kite's blue hat.

"What do you think, Snowflake?" she inquired with a sweet smile.

Kite's heart fluttered as he looked down into Cerridwen's shimmering green eyes. He'd be lying if he said he didn't hope she was right; time alone for the two of them had been a rarity all year. And, as much as he had tried to fight it, ever since Christmas he had been falling more and more in love with her. If Ging was going to be gone, he would finally have the chance he needed to tell her how he felt. But...what if Ging _wasn't_ leaving for a trip? He couldn't keep it bottled up much longer. What would he do then?

"I don't know, Wildflower," he answered, reaching down and brushing her bangs out of her face. "It's certainly a possibility. But, just in case he's not leaving, I think we should stay out here for a while longer...it's nice getting to spend time together with you, without Ging constantly hovering over our shoulders."

"Sounds like a plan," Cerridwen giggled, arching her back and shifting her body before settling back into a more comfortable position. She closed her eyes and inhaled the autumn air deeply, the oddly soothing scent of dead leaves and river moss mingling with the faintest trace of laundry detergent from Kite's pants. Letting out a contented sigh, she brought her hand up to her chest and began to toy with her pendant and sang softly to herself.

 _Come with me  
Into the trees_ _  
We'll lay on the grass  
And let the hours pass_

 _Take my hand  
Come back to the land  
Let's get away  
Just for one day_

Kite felt a smile cross his lips as he listened to her gentle voice; he realized she was probably unaware of the fact that she was singing aloud. Letting his hand wander over to rest on top of hers, he took the opportunity to sing the next verse.

 _Metropolis_ _  
Has nothing on this  
You're breathing in fumes  
I taste when we kiss_

 _Take my hand  
Come back to the land  
Where everything's ours  
For a few hours_

Cerridwen felt her cheeks turn a bright red, keeping her eyes shut tight out of sheer embarrassment; Kite did his level best to hold back his laughter, but admittedly failed. She grumbled, covering her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry, Carrie," Kite managed, holding his sides. Trying to regain composure, he added, "You're just so damn cute when you're flustered."

"Shut up," she giggled, nudging his leg with her shoulder, her face turning even redder.

Kite beamed, gazing at her with a mixture of joy and love in his eyes. Then, suddenly, his heart wrenched with a pang of fear. What if she didn't feel the same way about him as he did about her? She was his everything; the day he found her in that alleyway, all tattered and distraught, she turned his world around. Ever since that day, he couldn't imagine his life without her; he knew he wouldn't be able to bear losing her. If he told her how he felt, but she didn't feel the same...would it drive a wedge between them?

 _No,_ he thought, shaking his head firmly and creasing his brow. _I've never been indecisive before; this is no time to start. I'm telling her. Today. No matter what happens._

"Kite?" Cerridwen called, her voice laced with the slightest hint of alarm. She sat up and turned to him, nearly crawling into his lap to inspect his face. "Is everything alright? You seem distressed."

It was normal for Kite to fall silent, to fade into thought from time to time; that wasn't what grabbed Cerridwen's attention. She was eighteen now, and he was twenty-two; they had known each other for fourteen years. After all that time, she had developed the ability to sense even the slightest change in his mood. A subtle gesture, a crack in his voice, a change in his energy; nothing escaped her notice anymore.

Kite felt the tips of his ears and cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink as he met Cerridwen's concerned stare.

"I'm fine, Carrie," he replied with a reassuring smile, reaching one hand around to the back of her head and running it down the length of her satiny hair. Then suddenly, he felt his hand pass over a rough object.

And another.

And another?

"...what?" she inquired, leaning back slightly. "You look like you just drank sour milk or something."

"You've got leaves in your hair," he chuckled. "Turn around; I'll pick them out for you."

"Oh," Cerridwen replied, blushing slightly, "okay."

She turned to face the river, sitting cross-legged in front of Kite. Kite reached out and carefully took hold of her long violet hair, gingerly beginning to pick out the bits of leaves and twigs that had tangled themselves up in it when she was lying on the ground. Cerridwen shut her eyes tight, trying not to flinch whenever Kite accidentally pulled a strand of hair out with a piece of plant matter.

" _If_ Ging is actually leaving on a trip as we speak," Kite began after a while, freeing a bright red maple leaf from its purple prison, "is there anything in particular you'd like to do tonight?"

After a moment's deliberation, Cerridwen answered, "We should have dinner. Like, go through the freezer and see what kind of frozen meat Ging has stashed in there, and look in the fridge and see what we can dress it up with."

Kite grinned. "That sounds like a good idea...hey, speaking of dressing it up, we should make it a fancy dinner. I mean, dig out our formal clothing from the backs of our closets. That kind of thing."

Cerridwen giggled. "That would be fun!"

Tossing the last bit of plant matter to the side, Kite queried, "Do you have any hair ties with you?"

Cerridwen raised an eyebrow. "No, why?"

"Pity," Kite mumbled with a sigh, setting his hands on his knees in defeat. His demeanor abruptly snapping back to its previous pleasant state, he grabbed hold of her hair and declared, "Oh well. It won't hold, but I'm braiding your hair anyway."

"Okay!" Cerridwen laughed. "Go ahead! I like it when you play with my hair."

Kite beamed, moving his hands to the base of her head and beginning to separate her hair into sections. Cerridwen let her eyes close and her muscles relax, feeling more at peace than she had in months. After a short while, however, a terrifying thought crept into her mind: Ging intended on having both Kite and herself take the Hunter Exam the following year. She wasn't too worried about the Exam; yes, she knew it was dangerous, but she also knew Ging wouldn't send them into a situation he wasn't completely confident they could survive. It was after the Exam that she was afraid of.

Kite paused, feeling Cerridwen's posture change.

"Wildflower?" he called gently, his voice laced with concern. "What's wrong? Am I hurting you?"

"No, Snowflake," she replied with a half-hearted chuckle. "You're fine, go ahead. I just...I'm just worried about next year, after the Exam."

Kite scrunched his brow, continuing to braid her hair. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she began uncertainly, her gaze settling on the quick-moving current in the river, "I mean...what's going to happen to us? After we get our Licenses, what then?"

"Well," Kite began slowly, mulling it over in his mind, "we decide what kind of Hunters we want to be and go from there. The Exam isn't until next year, Carrie; there's no need to panic just yet."

"Y-yeah," she answered quietly, forcing a smile. Reluctant to clarify what she meant, afraid of what the answer might be, she fell silent and let herself focus on the feeling of Kite's fingers gliding through her hair, letting her eyes flutter shut once more.

Kite swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. He knew what she meant, even without her clarifying it: she was afraid that, after the Exam, they would go their separate ways.

That was the last thing Kite wanted.

Truth be told, yes, he was managing to get by just fine when he found her in that alleyway fourteen years before...but at the same time, he wasn't. He had been surviving, living in those sewer tunnels, rescuing and caring for stray animals until they were well enough to leave. However, he was indescribably lonely. And then he found Cerridwen...that lone ray of frightened, purple-haired sunshine in the middle of that gloomy, rainy alley. He took her in, cared for her, protected her, and felt his loneliness gradually melt away. And she never left. She had been the one constant in his life since then.

He loved her.

Cerridwen gradually opened her eyes, hearing Kite start to hum a familiar tune. As she listened, she realized it was the song he sang to her the first night they were together, and most nights when sleep was hard to come by: "The Flower of Sweet Strabane." She felt her heart flutter as the memories flooded back to her...lying on the straw pile in the sewer, the glow of a small fire warming her face, Kite's arms wrapped securely around her, tattered old blankets layered atop them both.

Still braiding Cerridwen's hair, Kite began to sing. Cerridwen felt herself start to relax again almost instantly; Kite's singing voice never failed to captivate her. As he sang, however, she realized the words passing his lips were different from the lyrics she remembered; and the further into the song Kite got, the more Cerridwen could feel herself blush.

 _If I were the king of all the land  
_ _And all things at my will_ _  
_ _I'd roam through all creation_ _  
_ _New comforts to find still_ _  
But the comfort I would seek the most  
As you might understand  
Is to win the heart of my love  
My darling Cerridwen_

 _Her eyes they are an emerald green  
Her hair a deep rich plum  
And through those soft and flowing locks  
My fingers I would run  
Her smile could make a prisoner  
Of the heart of any man  
_ _And my heart, it's captivated by_ _  
My darling Cerridwen_

 _If I had you, lovely Carrie  
To call my very own  
We'd leave all of our cares behind  
And the whole wide world we'd roam  
O'er hills and streams and mountains  
I'd be there to hold your hand  
We could be like that forever  
My darling Cerridwen_

 _But soon we'll both be Hunters  
With our own paths to find  
I hope that, as with all our lives  
Our paths will be entwined  
I want to be there by your side  
Right to the very end  
Just to hold you close and tell you  
I love you, Cerridwen_

Once Kite had finished singing (as well as braiding Cerridwen's hair), the two sat there in strangely tense silence for a couple minutes. Kite felt his mouth and throat go dry, his heart pounding in his chest. Why wasn't Cerridwen saying anything? Why wasn't _he_ saying anything? Sighing forlornly, he rose to his feet and took a few steps away, past Cerridwen, to stand alongside a weeping willow by the water's edge. He was quickly convincing himself that he shouldn't have said a word.

Unseen by Kite, Cerridwen was staring at the leaf-covered ground, grinning from ear to ear. She was elated. Her heart was racing, soaring with delight, making her feel a little dizzy. After a moment, she managed to stand.

"Kite."

He felt his stomach flip at the sound of leaves crunching underfoot as she approached him. Gingerly, Cerridwen reached out and took hold of Kite's hand, twining her delicate fingers around his. Surprised, Kite turned to face her, greeted by the reassuring gaze of her smiling emerald eyes.

"I love you, too," she said, her eyes dancing.

Kite gasped, a band of pink appearing across his cheeks and nose, stretching all the way back to his ears. They simply stood there like that for a while, a gentle breeze toying with their hair, unraveling what little fraction of the braid in Cerridwen's hair remained, leaves swirling in the wind around them, the sound of babbling water and chirping birds filling the air.

Gathering up all his courage, Kite placed his hands on Cerridwen's waist. Cerridwen's face flushed, but she fought past her nerves to bring her hands up to rest on his shoulders, prompting him to wrap his arms tighter around her and pull her against him. She looked up into his hazel eyes...a dusty, yet somehow striking brown, with flecks of gold and veins of green scattered within them...and felt her entire body grow weak.

"I love you, Carrie," Kite whispered, his intense gaze unwavering.

"I love you too, Kite," Cerridwen breathed, sliding a hand to the back of his neck.

Moving one hand up to caress the side of her face, Kite slowly leaned in toward her and bridged the gap between them, his lips taking hers in a tender embrace. Cerridwen let out a small giggle, causing both of them to smile into their next kiss.

And the next.

And the next.

In a moment of bravery, Cerridwen gently nipped at Kite's lower-lip, causing him to part his lips just enough for her to deepen the kiss. His heart leapt at the sensation, and he kissed her just as passionately in return. They could feel each other's heartbeats pounding in unison, feel the heat radiating off each other's skin, hear the sound of each other's breathing...in that instant, they knew it was right. They knew it was what they wanted. They belonged together; they belonged as one.

" _AHEM_."

The two leapt apart at the sound of Ging's voice, hastily trying to regain composure. Ging stood a few yards away from them, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. Cerridwen couldn't be sure, but beneath his furrowed brow she thought she saw a slightly amused smirk.

"I've been looking everywhere for the two of you," Ging said in an exasperated tone. "I knew I'd find you together, but I wasn't quite expecting to find you _together_."

Kite and Cerridwen exchanged borderline guilty side-glances.

Ging huffed, fighting back a chuckle. "Anyway, follow me back to the cottage. I need to talk to both of you. Don't worry, you're not _in trouble_. Just come along."

Somewhat bewildered, Kite and Cerridwen took hold of each other's hand and followed Ging out of the forest.

* * *

As it turned out, Ging was in fact planning to leave on a Hunting trip the following morning. When he and his two students returned to the cottage, he went over their training schedule with them before eating dinner and retiring to his room to finish packing and go to sleep. Shortly afterward, Kite and Cerridwen had gone off to their respective rooms as well.

Hours had passed, and sleep was evading Cerridwen at every turn. She had tried every trick in the book to get to sleep: chamomile tea, counting sheep, soothing music...hell, she had even snuck a shot of whiskey from the bottle Ging kept "hidden" in the kitchen cabinets. Since nothing had worked, she gave up and decided to attempt to read herself to sleep, turning on the lamp on her nightstand and grabbing a book at random.

"Carrie, are you alright? Your light's been on for hours now."

Cerridwen gasped in surprise, looking up from her book to see Kite leaning against her doorframe, eyeing her in concern. He wore a pair of black fleece pajama bottoms, a sleeveless white undershirt, and he _still_ had on his blue hat. She smiled at him, shutting her book and setting it on her nightstand.

"I just can't sleep, Kite, that's all," she replied, fatigue audible in her voice. "I'll be fine, really."

Kite smirked. "Disappointed about our dinner plans getting canceled?"

"Partially," she admitted with a shrug.

"We can have dinner tomorrow, Wildflower," Kite consoled, walking over and sitting on the edge of her bed. "I'll even go out and buy us a bottle of wine to split. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," she agreed, fighting back a yawn.

"Is there anything I can do to help you sleep?" Kite queried, tilting his head. "Anything at all?"

Cerridwen exhaled through her nose, burrowing down further beneath her blankets. "No, Snowflake, I'll be fine...thank you."

"If you're sure," he said, standing up and heading for the doorway.

"Kite," Cerridwen called after him suddenly, sitting back up. "Wait."

He paused, turning around to face her.

"Could you..." she began uncertainly, eyes darting around the room, "...maybe just...just hold me? Please? Like you used to when I couldn't sleep."

"Of course I can," Kite replied with a breathy chuckle, crawling under the covers next to her and reaching over to shut off the lamp. Taking off his hat and setting it on the nightstand, he pulled himself closer to Cerridwen, who was lying on her side, and wrapped his strong arms securely around her.

"Kite," she whispered, bringing a hand up to rest on his arm, "thank you, but...isn't this a little stupid? What if Ging-"

"Ging is _ridiculously_ fast asleep," Kite mumbled in reply. "I managed to walk past his room without him even shifting in his sleep."

Cerridwen giggled.

"But if it makes you feel better," he continued, brushing her hair behind her ear, "I'll go back to my own room after you fall asleep. Okay?"

"Okay," she replied with a smile, gently squeezing his arm. "I love you, Snowflake."

"I love you too, Wildflower," he breathed, lightly kissing her ear.

They laid there in silence for a long while, the moonlight streaming in through the slits in the blinds, the sound of nightingales barely audible in the distance. Then, ever so quietly, Kite began to sing. Cerridwen's lips twisted into a wistful smile, and stayed like that as she fell asleep in his warm embrace.

 _If I were the king of Ireland_ _  
_ _And all things at my will_ _  
_ _I'd roam through all creation_ _  
_ _New comforts to find still_ _  
_ _And the comfort I would seek the most_ _  
_ _As you might understand_ _  
_ _Is to win the heart of Martha_ _  
The flower of sweet Strabane..._


End file.
